


The Children from the Storm

by Blowalullaby



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Blindness, Creating Backstory, Family Bonding, Gen, Growing Up Together, Minor Violence, Post-Canon, Siblings, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-02-10 04:04:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21470272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blowalullaby/pseuds/Blowalullaby
Summary: After the disaster that was his canceled marriage, the Kazekage keep being pressured into finding someone to start a family with. One day, a swirling storm of dark sand wuthers in the desert, cutting two children from the world. And if Gaara doesn't want to take profit from the children's situation, he soon finds himself surprisingly attached to them.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 47





	1. The Storm

Shinki had been running, the fastest he could.

_I didn’t do it. It wasn’t me, I didn’t do it. We’re going to be fine, right. Oh, God, tell me we’re going to be fine._

The girl had been crying relentlessly, blood dripping out of her eyes, clutching and scratching him, trying in vain to distract herself from the pain. Shinki had made a blindfold out of her shirt, trying to lessen both the unforgiving heat of the desert and the endless stream of blood pouring from her eyes.

He was carrying her in a piggyback, seeking help, running away from _them_, and the _scene_, and _what he’d done_. No he hadn’t done it, it was the jutsu. It was the first time the iron sand had been reacting out of his own will.

And he really, really hadn’t like it.

And that sun, whose heat and light didn’t stop increasing… It started to make him feel dizzy.

What was he looking for, again?

Suddenly, the wailing of his little sister stopped, and her weight seemed to get even heavier. So heavy actually, that he didn’t have the strength to keep her on his back anymore. Not when he felt the grip of her finger on him weaken…

“Hold on Sayuri. We’re almost there” he promised, though he had no idea where they were. There was blood dripping on his shirt and neck, and he could feel it drying on his skin, making his shirt stiffen and his interiors cringe. He stiffened a shiver. The stream seemed to lessen, at least. How many blood did his sister lost?

Too much, apparently, as Sayuri didn’t held back onto him, and he felt her weight drift backwards, making him lose his balance. Out of instinct, his hands and arms let go of her and she fell heavily on the soft yet burning sand.

“Sayuri?” he asked, slowly approaching her figure, which was lying on the ground. He noticed she had a sunburn on her back and shoulders, since her shirt was used as a makeshift blindfold. He just realized it had been a bad idea. How could he have been so stupid? Clumsily, he let this iron sand form a flat surface above them, casting a shadow. Shinki tried to distract himself from the fear that maybe, it could escape his control, again.

“Sayuri, come on. I promise you, we’re almost there. Just hold on to me for a while, okay? I can’t carry you on my own if you don’t help.”

As she didn’t answer, his anxiety turned into panic. He frenetically untied the blood-soaked blindfold, to see that the red liquid had dried on her skin and in her eyes. He could see firmly where they had been cut, two thin vertical lines going from her eyebrow to her upper cheekbone, forming a clean, almost chirurgical cut.

_At least it had stopped bleeding_, he thought.

“Come on Yuyu. We have to go.”

He shook her shoulder, trying to get a response. She didn’t even flinch. Shinki felt the pressure of the chakra accumulating in his veins, and the sand urging him to unleash it. He fought against it, trying desperately to keep control of himself, and not repeat what he… No, it’s not true. _He_ _hadn’t done anything._

He looked around, trying to find something, anything that could help them. But they were too deep in the desert, too far away from anything. If only he had known where to go, where he was heading… But he didn’t have anyone to help him anymore, and that was all because of himself.

_Because of myse-_

Shinki looked once more at his sister, lying limply in his arms. Instantly, he felt something snap in his head.

The pressure in his vein released, and everything became chaos.

* * *

It was strange to feel it again.  
The powerful swirls of a wuthering rage.  
He recognized it the moment he felt it in the faraway desert. The wind, the sand, the uncontrolled power, it was all too familiar to him.  
The only exception was the strange material of this sand.

It was probably not his duty to take care of something as trivial as a storm. But he desperately needed some distraction. And as much as he liked to think he left the mentally fragile and dangerous child he was behind, he still loved the thrill a good sandstorm was giving.  
He would've missed it for nothing in the world.

Yet, this one was different. It has something unnatural in its raw energy,

Guffs of wind kept finding its way under his clothes, freezing him and cutting at the slim particles of sand covering his skin. It was probably one of the most powerful sandstorm he had ever felt. That’s when he saw it: a small figure, kneeling on the sand, clutching tightly at something. As he approached, the figure’s head snapped up, revealing a hurt, angry face, partly covered in blood, that shouldn’t suit the sweet features of a child. Threatening green eyes were daring him to come any closer, and Gaara realized he couldn’t count on his sand, this time.

He recognized it immediately, the hurt in his eyes. The hurt from having to be mistrustful of everyone, from knowing how dangerous one was, and have no control upon it. As much as Gaara hated it when the sand wasn’t covering him, he couldn’t keep it in place, in case the child noticed it and took it as a threat.

He had to appear as inoffensive as he could.

He fought against his sand’s instinct to protect him, and manage to totally uncover his skin, letting the sand get caught in the wind that kept swirling. Feeling totally bare, at the mercy of the force unfurling from the child, he felt more vulnerable than he’d ever been before.

The child’s gaze kept evaluating him in a silent warning he wouldn’t get any closer without being harmed. Though unfamiliar with most of physical pain, and totally exposed to his target, Gaara was a shinobi, and the Sand’s Kazekage. He even died, once. It was not like he feared pain.

The child clutched even more tightly at the thing he was holding against his chest. His eyes were unblinking though, staring at the stranger that was approaching slowly, carefully. The iron sand was really breaking the oter’s skin now, but he couldn’t do anything about it. He was scared, and the iron’s fury didn’t seem to falter.

As the stranger got closer, spikes formed in the air, ready to pierce through their new target. Would they kill this stranger, too? The child didn’t want to. But if it was what was needed to keep the siblings safe, he knew the iron sand would do it without hesitation.

Surprisingly, the stranger didn’t seem to be afraid. He was cautious, but he didn’t back off, almost offering himself to the fury surrounding them. The spikes stabbed his back as he knelt, down, and he did his best to hide his wince as he pulled the child in a reassuring embrace.

And time stopped.

As soon as Shinki felt the arms surrounding him, the iron sand dropped to the ground, empty of its uncontrolled rage. The hold was not quite close enough to coke, but gentle, just at the right distance to comfort. Finally, the kid felt like he could breathe again. He could slowly feel the chakra’s slowdown in his system, until it came back to its usual calm pattern. Silence settled in his head, and a sense of relief took place all over his body.

Amazed, he stared at the man, who set on him a gentle gaze. An unexpectedly deep voice raised, calm and gentle: « I’ll teach you how to use your power. What is your name? »

The child stared at him a bit more, silencing the panic he felt at the idea of being abandoned in the middle of this unforgiving desert in favor to see if he really could trust this stranger. His mother always taught him not to talk to strangers. He glanced briefly at the precious figure he was desperately holding, then back to the man who was patiently waiting for him to answer. Ignoring the anxiety that started to rise, he decided to put his fate in the hands of the man who made the endless turmoil of his sand stop. If he was lucky, maybe this man had the power to stop the turmoil of their lives, too?

« Shinki, » he answered simply.

Then, he spaced his arms out a little, just enough to reveal the unmoving form of his little sister.

* * *

Kankurou was really fed up with all of this.

First, he had to administer the whole mess that had been the failure of his little brother’s marriage. Secondly, he had to keep everyone safe from a huge sandstorm. And now he was playing _fucking _babysitter! And he couldn’t even complain, because when he opened the Kazekage’s office, about to expose what a talented shinobi he was and how he was mad his brother had escaped from the Council’s request _again_, he only found the chair behind the desk empty. He had sighed. Was he really a joke to his brother?

He found him staring at the village, on the roof of the Kazekage Tower. Since as long as he could remember, that roof was the place of all of Gaara’s internal debates, and life-changing thought. He’d been him here for almost three days now. The three days that happened since they brought the children in Suna’s hospital. Seeing his brother here, shoulders down and head hung low, Kankurô decided to keep his anger to himself. He knew his brother didn’t mean to offend him, but tried to do what was best. And right now, Gaara needed him. So, he’d stick to his mission.

“Nothing new?”

“No, nothing. We didn’t find anyone looking for their children. The girl’s state stabilised though, since Sakura-chan was able to repair her eyes. The kids were playing in the hospital room when I passed by earlier.”

Gaara nodded, still deep in thought.

It had been three days since the children were found, and no one had any explanation about them. No information on their parents, their clan, nor why would anyone attack them, or let them die in the middle of nowhere. It could have been that the children only got lost, but it was very unlikely for any parents to let their children wander in the deadly desert, unless they wanted to get rid of them. Gaara refused to think it was that option. He knew what it was like to be unwanted, and wished dead by a parent, but he couldn’t tolerate the thought that anyone would do such a thing under his ruling anymore.

Unfortunately, even with all the progresses Suna had made in all these years, it wasn’t rare to find bandits, criminals and hopeless people wandering in the deepest part of the desert, where houses were fewer, Suna further, and the living condition even harsher. Gaara did his everything to protect everyone, but as much as he wanted to, the war, the previous insecurity of the Land of the Wind, and the unforgiving desert were as many factors that made it impossible. And he didn’t even count the few clans or villages that were still resentful toward him. There were still families that escaped his power and protection, and he could neither force nor convince them to join him. But even those, except for the nomads thay had the right to occupy the desert according to their own laws as long as they didn’t disturb the locals, he had records with their name in the the archives. Not one was mentioning these children so far, and that started to worry him.

_If they’re coming from a caravan, I won’t be of any help…_

Just thinking about it made Gaara dizzy, and awoke the dull ache that was lingering in is chest since very childhood. He didn’t feel like good enough. He_ was_ not good enough.

And all the Council kept thinking about was this stupid disaster of a canceled marriage…

“I understand how hard it is for you, but you shouldn’t take this too close to heart. As you know, there are a lot of nomads leaving through the deserts. The kids were probably a part of one of the caravans, and got lost. It will take a few weeks at most to find back the one they were a part of, according to the painting on the boy’s face.”

“It can’t be a caravan, we have to search harder. I need to understand what happened to them. I can’t believe the nomads would’ve just let one of them behind without noticing, even more when it were children. And if that happened, they would’ve asked about them. As long as they’re on my territory, they are under my protection and authority.”

“You know how proud they are. They most probably wouldn’t want to dishonor themselves by seeking help.”

“You don’t understand.”

It wasn’t the fact that there were two kids that had gotten lost in the desert that disturbed him so much. It was the state those children were when he found them. Who would be sick enough to inflict such a wound on such a young girl? And judging by the intensity of Shinki’s loss of control, he must have been through a lot of pychological trauma. Even if Gaara could help him gaining control on his jutsu, it wouldn’t help him to gain power if he didn’t had a safe environment.

“I know why you worry so much. But you’re jumping to conclusions too quickly. You’re the Kazekage of this village, Gaara. And even though you want to, you can’t get personally involved with every single citizen of the Land of the Wind.”

“And that’s why, sometimes, I feel like this job is a nonsense… ” Gaara mumbled.

What was his role, if he couldn’t assure everyone living under his rules safety and protection?

Kankurou took a step forward and laid a hand on his brother’s shoulders. Gaara leaned slightly against it. The puppeteer squeezed his shoulder tightly, before he reminded him gently: “Go back to your office, Gaara. We will send another team on a patrol. That’s all we can do for now. That, and waiting for results. There are other tasks at hands though, the Council want to reunite, and it is your duty to attend it.”

Gaara closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

_I know what my duty is, Kankurou. I know it all too well…_

With a last glance to his dear village, Gaara headed back to his office, trying not to think about the set of deep green eyes that were so similar to his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just really wanted to explore the relationship between Shinki and Gaara. As for the OC, I've been thinking about her for awhile, even before I knew anything about Boruto, and I managed to find her a place in the Boruto-verse. I was so happy to have found a story to put her in !  
This is also my first story in english. It is just a little story I wrote for fun, so it may not be very in character. I can't help it, I feel like Gaara is a sweet guy.  
Have a nice read !


	2. Quiet anxieties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week later, no more information was found. Yet, the children can't stay in the hospital any longer, and Sakura has to go back to Konoha soon. The brothers need to find a solution, but memories are tough to defeat...

She was pretty sure her eyes were open, yet she couldn’t see anything.They were still burning slightly, aching on the inside of her head, inflaming every nerves up to her brain. And she was feeling so heavy… As if an elephant was walking inside of her system. Every limb felt like they were made of lead, and she hated that feeling.

Why couldn’t she see? The nice nurse had been healing her restlessly! She had taken every med given to her, like a big girl, even though she hated the taste. She even let them take Shinki away in order for her to have a proper treatment. It really wasn’t fair that she wasn’t recovered yet!

Speaking of Shinki…

She patted the soft fabric of the sheets she had been laying on, looking for her brother. Apart from her, the bed was empty. Where had he gone? The world was too frightening in the dark, and the worry only grew higher as she realized her brother wasn’t with her as she woke up.

“Shinki?” she whispered, cautious in case a stranger was there, spying and watching her every move. Since she had no answer she called louder, but once again, she was never met with any answer. She felt vulnerable.

She brushed back a strand of hair tickling her face, and frowned a little. Then she swung her leg to the edge of the bed, but it didn’t met by any ground. She swung the other one, swayed them a little, seeing if she’d encounter any obstacle. There was nothing but air. Hesitant, she let herself slide off the bed, and let out a little squeal of delight when she finally hit the ground with her feet. The few other times she had been out of her hospital bed, she had been accompanied by a nurse, or Shinki. But right now, she had done it on her own. She was so powerful! Shinki will be proud of her.

She stumbled a little, looking for the door. When her hands finally met the metallic cold surface of the handle, she pushed it to find her own exit.

_I’m so good. I just have to find and save Shinki now! _She thought excitedly.

The room she was in was large and chill, almost cold. The rough material of the wall felt rocky or sandy under her palm and fingers. She started to follow the wall that guided her out of her room, calling her brother from time to time, until her palm suddenly leant against nothing at all.

The weight of her hand, and the foot she already had raised, unbalanced her and she lost control, hurtling down what felt painfully like stairs, until her body hit the hard floor at the bottom of them. “Ouch” she groaned, holding her head and fighting tears back. Each impact had reverberated through her body to her head, making her brain throb in her skull. She hated that feeling. She hoped the nice nurse that smelled like flowers would make the pain end.

“Wow. You didn’t tell me your sister was such a daredvil, Shinki, did you know?” said a rugged, mocking voice.

Oh, so it was him, the mean stranger that took Shinki away. Sayuri snap her head toward the source of the voice, but she couldn’t quite picture it. “What did you do to my brother?!” she growled, defiant.

“He did nothing, little one. He’s here to take you and your brother with him, for a while,” said the sweet voice of the nice nurse that had taken care of her yesterday. A hand took a hold of hers to raise her on her feet, and Sayuri guessed the nurse was inspecting her for any injury.

“Where are we going?” asked Shinki, sounding suspicious. He hadn’t made a move toward her, and that saddened her a little. But then, she thought that maybe Shinki was held back by the man, and Shinki was acting deliberately cold, to show he didn’t trust him, so that the man would let him go. Shinki was very clever.

“To the Kazekage’s Estate. You’ll stay there the time needed for us to find your parents. The Kazekage’s order. He promised you to show you how to control your jutsu, remember kiddo?” stated the mocking voice.

Sayuri tilted her head, curious, at the mention of her parents, but she decided to keep her questions to herself as Shinki decided to keep silent. He had told her not to speak unless he did, as he only talked with people they could trust. If Shiki didn’t go into the conversation any further, it meant they had to keep their distances. So Sayuri kept her mouth firmly shut. The nurse asked her briefly how she felt, and she told her how tired and painful her head and body felt. “I have enough of the dark” she complained, sounding really upset. The nurse gave her a comforting pat on the top of her hair, and she instantly felt better.

“Come on, Sakura. We’d better get over with all of that. If that kid was able to stand and stumble down here, she’s obviously tough and in good condition. It is better if she gots out of the hospital, and leaves her bed to someone else. The places are few.”

The nurse said nothing but asked her kindly if it was okay for her to walk. “Do I have to stay with the mean man on my own ?” asked Sayuri, worried that the adults would try to separate her from her brother. She didn’t mind too much having to spend time with the nurse, but the man didn’t seem very friendly. She just wanted to go back to her house with her brother, take a nap, then wake up and be able to see again. She heard the offended gasp of the man, but she absolutely didn’t care.

“Oh, he’s not mean, sweetheart. It’s Kankurô. He will host you at his house with your brother until your parents are found. You don’t need to worry, everything will be fine, and now that you’re healed, you will always be with your brother.”

Briefly relieved, the little girl raised her arms out to the nurse, so that she would be held. The woman took her in arms, and Sayuri lulled into a half-sleep, drowning in her sweet parfume.

*

Gaara was very reluctant to cause any unnecessary conflict.

But he was also very stubborn.

That’s why, after Elder Ebizou brought up, not so subtly, the topic of another mariage, since_ it had been over a year, after all, that the last one was attempted_, Gaara decided he’d close the subject for good.

Unfortunately, the Elder were just as stubborn as he was, and they were more numerous. It was what, the tenth Council that hadn’t any important measure taken? Where no subject or project had been spoken of? Gaara really wanted to sand-coffin them sometimes. But behaving like a dangerous brat wouldn’t be of any efficiency. He was a war hero, the most powerful shinobi of his village, he had earned, with great effort, the respect and trust from his people, yet every time he attended a Council, he was treated like a little kid that didn’t know any better. It angered him, yes, but he would be patient. If anything, they would die before him.

_I managed to make Oonoki review his opinion on the Ninja Alliance. I can prove the Elders that I am more capable than they think I am. And that I am not going to be manipulated into some marriage._

What angered him the most though, was not much that they were annoying and invasive. What really bothered him was that they used this as an excuse not to take care of the real problems the village was facing.

Since the war, he had fought to reorganise the different hospital, so that they were safer, delivered more medical help in the most isolated area, and put a little more money in the medical researches. He had asked many times for ninjas from Konoha, the most advanced in this area, to form the Medic-nin from Suna, but always in vain. The Elders were very reluctant to ask for help to another country.

Just like there hadn’t been any war to erase that kind of stupid pride…

And this was just the beginning of a list of _real_ problems that needed to be discussed in a Council, since as the Kazekage he couldn’t take all of the decisions on his own, for democracy’s sake.

One of his big, unpredicted problem, was the children. A week later, no more information had been found. Bringing Sakura here had been a real hassle. He knew he would have the reprisals of taking this decision without discussing it with the Elders, but he didn’t have time to waste when two young lives from _his_ people were in danger. He may not always have their support, which make the longer-term and economical maneuvers go slower. But he was convinced that as long as he made the safety of his people his top priority, said people would support him in turn. That was a lot more important. At least, he hoped he was making the right choices.

Oh, and there was that school that needed to be building in the further east, too…

Anyway, since the hospital couldn’t welcome them any more, Gaara had had to find a place for the children to stay. All of the structures were full, and he didn’t want to complicated things by bringing them to a reception center when there was still a chance they could get back to their real family. So he decided to take them to his house, since neither he nor Kankurou lived there much, until they were given back. If said family wasn’t too bad.

He sighed. He didn’t like being directly involved with children. It was all too complicated for him. Every time, his political persona broke, making him vulnerable to the ghosts of his own childhood.

He wasn’t one to give reason to his demons.

It was not that he didn’t like children, though. He had, from time to time, visited the schools, orphanage, and hospitals, where he had built some very strong memories with them. It was always so rewarding seeing their big eyes staring up at him in awe, incredulous that someone so important was so close to them. They would ask him to make figures, and little toys, or statues with his sand. The bolders would grab his hands, others would wave from afar, before giggling and hiding behind an adult or their comrades. He even received a drawing once, that he had framed and pinned in his room. Those were very precious memories.

But the scars from his own childhood were never far, no matter how hard he ignored them. It was always hurting him when he saw a kid being bullied or isolated from the others, or when they showed open hostility to everyones. Most of the time, he made a quick lesson to the children, before moving on, knowing fully well that as innocent and cute kids were, they could also be cruel. He always reminded himself that it was okay, and it just meant they were growing up.

What was not okay, was when he witnessed a grown person hurting a child, or when he was reported stories about families that couldn’t take care of them, and he had to take a decision about what to do with them. That was the hardest. What to do with a child that couldn’t stay in their family, knowing that the existing structures to receive them were already overfilled and less than ideal? He only had to examine those folders on the heaviest cases, or when better structures to create were discussed. Most of the time he only vaguely heard about them, but he knew they existed, and that was another problem to his list.

He hoped really deeply they would find the parents of the two that had been trapped inside the boy’s jutsu. It was very likely that the jutsu itself had cut them from the family. If they were lucky, they had just got lost, and their family was looking for them. What he really feared though was what had caused such a distress for the boy had to feel to release a jutsu with so much force.

*

The Kazekage Estate was really huge, Shinki thought. And very empty too. Everything was simple, and each room was only furnished with the strict necessary. It didn’t feel lively at all.

He had been fighting against sleep. He was trying to concentrate on what the pink-haired nurse that had been taking care of his sister’s injuries was saying to the weird-looking man with purple facepaint. He couldn’t hear them, and it bothered him greatly. But he couldn’t get any closer, for he knew the purple face guy was watching him from afar.

It was very hard to tell what the other thought when he was looking at him like this, with all that painting. But at some point, he stopped watching Shinki, who decided he’d take a walk since his sister was napping on the couch of the very empty living room.

The stairs were narrow, and high, but Shinki went upstairs anyway. He needed some air to keep him awake. Since his iron sand’s accident, he hadn’t been able to sleep without having horrible dreams, replaying the exact moment the sand had crushed his mother and the two threatening strangers into dust, breaking the flesh and bones, which sound was echoing through his head until he woke up, sweating and heart beating fast, restless.

He logically decided he would never sleep again.

That was way harder than he thought though. He was missing his mom. And he knew Sayuri missed her too. She had been asking for her throughout her healing process, and she was still hoping that their mother would someday come and take them with her. Shinki knew otherwise.

When Shinki reached the first floor, he was met by a large corridor, void of any decoration. It was all bare sand and rocks. The emptiness of everything felt really unnerving to him, so he climbed up the stairs until he was up the roof, temporarily blind because of the change from the soft dim light of the house to the bright sun of the desert.

Finally, he was breathing some fresh air. Hot, but constantly moving and renewing. He breathed in a little, feeling the tiredness exit his body at the contact pf the wind and the brightness of the light. He reached the rail delimiting the roof. He could see a good part of Suna here. It was so much bigger than their small village in the middle of nowhere! Shinki raised on the tip of his toes over the railing, trying to see how high he was. All of the houses were pretty tall, here, too. They were all circles, ellipses, curvy forms, and each had a little detail differencing them from their neighbours. Even the streets looked like they were made out of a mandala, tricky and sinuous, as if they had been drawed according to the movements and will of the wind rather than a geometrical or practical logic. He could only see sandy colors, from a pale and dirty yellow to a warm light brown, and all had round, small windows welted by the sand and wind invading every crack and dip of this dried out land. He could even see the huge walls surrounding the village, and the canyon used as a natural frontier and protection, in the opposite direction of the gates.

And a couple streets away from the house, was the Kazekage tower, emerging from the mass of curvy houses, tall and imposing.

“I’m feeling so small…” muttered Shinki to the wind blowing through his hair. There were people chatting in the streets, and if he listened closely, he could hear the sellers vanting loudly the quality of their merchandises, even though they seemed to be quite far. He couldn’t see the place (du marché) from here.

Then he heard some people calling “Kazekage-sama !” from the street bellow, so he hovered a little bit more, watching intently what was happening. There was a bunch of ladies bowing to a young man, who slightly bowed his head at them in return. The ladies squealed a little, and continued their way, as the young man kept heading toward the Estate. Shinki recognised him immediately.

That was the redheaded stranger that had brought them here in the first place. Shinki felt a bubble of excitement pop in his chest at the sight of him, and his heart started to beat a little louder. He was both anxious and happy to see him, and he couldn’t pinpoint why yet.

*

Dinner passed awfully quietly.

Well, he could hear the Purple Man doing some useless chatting with Sakura-chan, but it wasn’t enough to distract him from the imposing and mute presence of the redheaded man.

Shinki was even holding his breath, too afraid he would disturb the tangible aura emanating from him. He was very careful not to let out too much sound when he was blowing on his soup.

When Shinki had headed back from the roof to the building, he had stayed on the upper steps of the stairs leading to the first floor, looking downstairs through the rail. The redheaded man had been talking to Purple-face in a muffle tone, before he looked up and saw Shinki staring at them.

Shinki was sure they would probably still be in a staring contest if Sakura-chan hadn’t interrupted him, surprised to see him up the stairs when she climbed up them to put Sayuri, who was still asleep, in a proper bed.

He hadn’t looked at the other in the eyes ever since. Sakura had stayed with Sayuri for a while, treating her eyes with obvious disappointment. Shinki could tell something was wrong, but he hadn’t dared to open his mouth.

Sayuri was sitting across from him, musing for herself while kicking her legs in an absent pattern. She had hit him from time to time, but she didn’t seem to notice, and he didn’t really mind. He had a bulge of worry choking him and weighing on his stomach for almost a week. A few kicks on the legs weren’t of any harm at that point.

It wasn’t normal to have his sister so quiet, either. She had never been of the calm type. And though she had slept most of the day, she still seemed to be tired, yawning in between her singing.

_Maybe the pills Sakura-chan gave her? The one she gave me the first day made me tired too._

And when he had slept, he had had a nightmare. Just the thought of it made him shiver.

“Can I leave the table ?” he asked, feeling suddenly sick.

He waited one second for an answer. Two seconds. The atmosphere kept getting thicker the more his shoulders tensed. At the tenth second, the Pink Nurse sighed and told him he could go.

He took his sister by the hand.

“Where are we going?

_I’m going to play with you, until Mommy comes back.”

Delighted, the little girl beamed at him, and he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.


	3. Quiet and Noises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time went by, and no parents to be found. A new routine settles discretly in the corner, without anyone noticing it.

It was never quiet.

She was too aware of everything surrounding her, but she didn’t have the accuracy to know where everything she was hearing was coming from.

She had been hiding in closets, small rooms, under her bed, in any tiny and empty space she could fine, trying to give rest to her overloaded hearing. But even there, there was still the sound of her breathing, her heartbeat, of the blood and chakra circulating through her system.

It was never quiet anymore.

It had kept her from sleeping. Once she had recovered enough from the healing she had received, sleep started to flee her. She thought it was pretty unfair. She had been artificially exhausted from her medication, yet she still couldn’t see anything. And now that she didn’t take them anymore, she wouldn’t sleep because her very existence kept her awake.

It had been a real bother in the beginning, but slowly, her opinion on the matter evolved. Her environment was blurry, but she could feel herself and everything that came to her contact in the deepest of their parts.

To be honest, it was _thrilling_.

She loved feeling just how _alive _she was. She was assaulted by sounds, feelings, a giant black mess of sensation she had never experienced before, that were all there, but everyone missed. She started loved the disarray, the loudness, of the chaos of sounds that were echoing to the deepest part of her young self.

She also noticed that, as time went by, she was starting to _feel_. A different kind of _feel_ than the one she had until then. It was almost like she could see, yet it was through her skin rather than her eyes. When she was close enough, she could _feel_ if something was on the ground next to her. If there was an obstacle on her way. If it was suddenly void of any sensation, meaning there was a gap at some place.

It was still quite blurry, but she was definitely _feeling_ the world.

There was one person though, she could _feel_ very well, and she didn’t understand why. It was the man with a quiet, velvety deep voice. The man that everyone in town seemed to hold in such high regards. Sayuri didn’t fully understand why that man seemed to be so important, but she was amazed by his very presence. He was probably one of the quietest people, breathing, walking, heartbeat unnoticeable. Yet, she was almost perfectly able to _see_ him.

She could tell he wasn’t very tall, for a man, and thin. She could tell he wasn’t moving a lot, when he was in the same room as them, and she could guess he was watching them from afar, standing almost perfectly still, weight barely shifting on the ground. She could feel the way he was walking, almost sliding on the ever-moving sand that covered the entirety of Suna. To her, that man had a voice, a stature, a light way to walk, a quiet and calm way to talk. It might not seem like much, but he was, with her brother, and anchor grounding her to the world that kept living and moving all around them, when she couldn’t catch the source of the movement.

It was still scary, sometimes, when Shinki got tired of holding her hands and leading her as they walked. He would sometimes disappear from her senses for a hours, and she would be left on her own, until someone found her. She was trying to create a map in her head, placing every still obstacle, but she had to admit such task was not very efficient for now.

She was trying hard to free herself from her new dependency to the others. She had never liked having to rely on anybody.

Except maybe Shinki, because when he show his care for her, she always felt like a princess, and it was a nice feeling, even though it was a lie.

She had been hiding under a bed for a few minutes now, trying to calm her beating heart down, overwhelmed by the joy of having found what she guessed to be a Teddy Bear.

It was on one of her hiding session, as the world had become too much for her poor, sensitive ears and skin. It was hard to adjust to the loss of sight, but what was hardest was the hypersensitivity that came across her other senses, sometimes going on the verge of unbearable. Those times, she needed quiet and small spaces, a place no one would find her.

The room she came across this time, was one that was rarely opened.

It was probably the room of the biggest of the two man, the one who had left a few days ago, for she knew for sure the lighter one was in another bedroom, probably his own. The one that was _always_ locked.

So maybe the biggest man, the one her brother called Purple-face, had forgotten to lock it when he left ? Maybe the Kazekage hadn’t noticed ? Smiling at her discovery and excited at the prospect of intruding a room she wasn’t supposed to be in invaded her system as walked in.

That’s where she found, lying alone and forgotten under the bed, the fluffy and soft texture of a cuddly toy. She couldn’t retain a little squeal when she managed to grab and drag it to her, to the safety of the wall against her back, floor against her side, and bed above them. The toy’s fur was rugged and worn, and her little fingers tangled in tinh holes. She guessed it was a very old bear. She hadn’t realized Purple-face would be someone sweet enough to have such a toy under his bed.

When Shinki reappeared, she got out of undet the bed, clutching the Teddy Bear to her chest : “Shinki, look what I found !”

Shinki hadn’t seem to find her discovery interesting, so she kept it hidden in her own secret places.

*

If someone had came to him a few years back, telling him he’d spend time with two children and babysit them while off duties, he would have either sand-coffined them, or told them to get out with one of his legendary deathglare. Depending on how advanced he was on his way back to humanity.

Yet, Sakura had departed to Konoha, Kankurou was on a mission, and here he was, holding his promise, in the backyard of the Kazekage Estate.

“A big part of chakra control resides in breathing and internal balance. You should already have noticed that when you pay close attention, you can feel some kind of energy moving through your body, which becomes clearer when you are using a jutsu. That is the chakra. It is the origin of every ninja’s abilities, and having good chakra control will make you not only strong, but wise, as you will have perfect awareness and control over your power. We are going to begin with simple breathing exercises, alright?”

As he expected, the boy didn’t gave any kind of answer, just standing there, staring at him with his big green eyes. Gaara let him do, and briefly checked the time. Only ten minutes since he had left his office and decided to help Shinki on his jutsu. From the corner of his eye, he could see the little dark-haired girl playing in the sand, patting everything that lay in her reach. Since Sakura was not here to help her anymore, it was Shinki that guided her pretty everywhere she went. But this time, she had came on her own.

Well, she had stumbled down the stairs, hurt her foot, knee and elbow, had her palms bleeding, but she had made it to the backyard were they were playing. She hadn’t seemed to care being hurt, smiling, proud of herself for having done exactly what she had wanted to do.

Gaara was impressed.

“She’s preparing something. It’s not normal she’s so quiet” mumbled her brother.

Gaara put his stare back upon him, quizzical “What do you mean ?”

Shinki shrugged and stared at the ground. “Dunno, Kazekage-sama. She’s just too quiet.”

Gaara hummed, and showed him different exercises to help focusing on his chakra and not lose control over it. They hadn’t been using any kind of sand yet. Gaara had noticed that the boy seemed very uncomfortable when he had asked about it earlier. He now realized that he hadn’t seen a grain of black sand since the storm. He wondered what it exactly _was_. The wound it had inflicted him weren’t caused by sand, that was for sure. It was something else. But what ?

“You’re doing well. It is important for you to master these basics. When you have a dangerous jutsu, it is essential to always have the certitude you are able to take back control if it were to unleash. It prevents from a lot of grief, and it stops you from hurting yourself, or the people you care about, to protect them instead.”

The boy flinched at these words. That aroused another question mark inside of Gaara’s head. He wished Kankurou was here, to help him communicate with the mite boy. He hadn’t say a word about his origins, only adressing them on absolute necessity, or when he wanted to talk to or about his sister. That was all.

Shinki stopped the exercise though, glancing shyly at his sister. Gaara followed his gaze, looking back and forth between the anxious little boy and the forgetful baby girl, who was seemingly building something with the dry sand on the ground. She kept asking for her parents, but after almost a month, the request had been rarer and rarer. It was harder for Shinki though. Each time their parents were mentionned, the expression on his face stilled in an attempt to mask the hurt and guilt shinning on his eyes.

Gaara had to stop the researches. He needed his ninjas for the village itself, and he had given up on finding any clue about what had exactly happened to them. He hoped though that whatever happened wouldn’t happen _again_.

He still had to find a solution for their living conditions though.

A small voice caught his attention. “Kazekage-sama… Did your sand ever hurt someone you cared about ?”

His gaze got back to the boy, looking at his feet. He considered lying, but decided against it.

“Yes. It hurt a lot of people before I managed to have a real control over it. But before that, I had to learn to have control over myself.

_How did you make it stop ?

_It took me years. Years of training, of course, but mostly of self-discipline, compassion, opening to the world and the ones who shared it with me.” Gaara had a rare, small smile. “But don’t worry, kid. You are young, strong, and you have someone you cared about, and that care about you more than anything else in the world. I am sure you will make progresses way quicker than I did. And you won’t ever have to hurt anyone again.”

Shinki winced at the latest word. He hadn’t mean to let this information slip. He wanted to inquire, go deeper in those interrogations that kept him awake until he passed out from exhaustion. He opened his mouth to speak, but a small shriek interrupted him.

“Sayuri ?”

Gaara watched him go to his crying little sister, who had (once more) managed to hurt herself, somehow. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do, so he just observed him soothing the crying infant, talking quietly and attending to her newest injure.

“I have some medical supplies in the bathroom. Come with me.”

Shinki nodded, and followed him back inside of the house.

It seemed that training had come to an end.

*

Contrary to popular belief, Gaara wasn’t fond of calmness.

True, he liked spending some time on his own. He was undoubtedly an introvert, and he enjoyed having some alone time were he could collect himself and enjoy the small things, such as the growth of his collection of cacti. But those were specific, chosen moment he savored when he wanted or needed to.

But most of the time, quiet actually put him on edge.

Quiet, it was his childhood after Yashamaru’s death. It was Kankurou and Temari quickly ushering their verbal fights when they saw him in the corner, it was his father glaring at him, tall and cold, every time he was in his vision. It was fright and murmurs everywhere he was going. It was loneliness. It was the death he briefly visited when he was fifteen.

Noise, on the contrary, was a lot of joyful memories. The loudliness of his very first friend. His sibling bickering teasingly even when he was around. His people celebrating his return. Noise was life, not always kind and sweet, but also wild and violent when it needed to be. Gaara didn’t mind wildness, as long as people were living.

He used to long for his siblings fights when Temari left Suna for Konoha. He also regretted he had never been able to be a part of them. Sure, they were still teasing him gently, the way siblings always does, but he was aware that a part of the complicity they share would never apply to him. He loved to witness it though, and he kind of missed it.

He didn’t like the quiet of the house when his brother was away on a mission.

Now though, the house was never quiet. He forgot it sometimes, when he was too focused on work and bumped into Matsuri in the hallway, watching the children while he was on duties. Or he was surprised hearing their hurried little feet in the corridor when they were up to some games he wasn’t a part of, and saw Shinki put his finger on his mouth, begging him silently not to denounce him to his little sister.

And while Shinki was more of the quiet type, Sayuri was a real blabbermouth.

A bit intimidated at first, she was soon asking him about every single thing that came to her mind. He often wondered if it was a side effect to her blindness, the fact that she was so attached to know everything about the world surrounding her, or if her curiosity was simply a part of her.

She would ask him “Why the sand is so dry ? Why the wind is so strong ? Why the sun is so hot ? Why are the houses round ? Why Suna is so big ? Why is there no water ? Why are cacti so mean ?” and she would continue on and on, from the time she woke up to when she fell asleep.

Beyond the fact that it was testing both his patience and his imagination, he also found he had a hard time to give the children a schedule. He supposed they had one when they were at their house, but now he didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t their parent, and even though they seemed to have given him part of their trusts, they were both still waiting for their family. At least, the youngest was, as she would often ask him about her parents.

If Gaara wasn’t a specialist to explain things to people, especially children, he found incredibly easier to answer the apparent “mean” nature of cacti than “When is mommy coming for me ?”

So he let them eat when they were hungry, making sure there was always something in the fridge, and sleep when they were tired. He wasn’t sure it was the best schedule ever, at least it kept them alive, which was a pretty good achievement according to him. He even managed to find some answers that satisfied Sayuri’s endless questioning.

And this evening, as he came back from work and sat on the couch in the living room, taking some rest, he heard whispers in the corridor :

“Hey, Sayuri, we are going to play to knights and princesses.

“Cool !”

“Okay. So, you go next to Gaara-sama over there, you’d be the emprisonned princess, and he is the dragon. Be careful not to wake him up and make him angry. I’ll be the knight that has to save you. ‘Kay ?”

“No, I want to be a knight too !”

“Sayuri, we are only two, we can’t both be knights.”

“What about Mr Bear ? He’d be the princess.” A small sigh.

“Okay, go get it and put it at the end of the couch while Gaara-sama isn’t watching !”

They were far from discreet. Particularly Sayuri, who was crawling clumsily on the floor, bumping in some objects she still didn’t know the place of. But even though he was portraying the vilain against his will, he felt included in their game for the first time. So he decided to play along, pretending to be asleep when he heard their stifled laughters and slow steps becoming closer and closer.

It was hard not to break character at their giggling, fortunately he was good at poker faces.

He hadn’t expected to be the dungeon keeper of his long-lost Teddy Bear though. Where had it been all this time ?


	4. Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Shinki lose more and more control over his sand, he finds himslef revealing what caused his parents' death. Meanwhile, feeling alone as her brother is progressively drifting away, Sayuri sharpen her sense of "feeling" and discover her abilities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is Gaara's birthday. I had to update !  
Wish you a nice read !

Shinki was waiting fearfully for the front door to open.

He had made sure Sayuri was peacefully sleeping upstairs. He had cleaned every centimeter of the house, torn apart between hoping that if he showed off his hard-working and serious nature the Kazekage would accept to keep him, and wishing he would lock him somewhere he’d be inoffensive forever.

He wished he could just ignore what happened the last time he had seen his parents, but it wasn’t possible anymore. The other night, the iron sand had almost crushed his little sister while he was sleeping.

That’s why he was there, standing straight behind the door, feet together and hands joined behind his back. He could feel his finger twitch despise being tightly clasped together. He had to tell him. He had to tell their savior what a terrifying monster he was, in order to keep Sayuri safe. Maybe, if he showed is good-willingness, he would even keep her under his roof? And keep teaching him how to control himself?

He was starting to feel pain from standing still and stiff for so long, when the lock in the door could finally be heard. Shinki got even straighter, breathing deeply, as the door seemed incredibly slow to open fully.

“Oh, so you’re still there after all?”

The man who opened the door was not the one he expected, but Purple-Face. Oh. He had completely forgotten about him.

Why did he had to be back now?

As panic started to rise, Shinki’s eyes filled with tears he wasn’t used to have. His breathe shortened as his posture fell. All he could register was the way Purple-face’s expression shifted in mere second before the pain he had bottled up the past month crushed back in his whole body. All he could see was pain. All he could feel was pain. He was noting but pain as the world spilled out of his mouth, having no control over it anymore, telling everything that happened that very day one of the biggest sandstorm of the Land of the Wind brought two children to Suna.

He told about this afternoon he went playing with his sister around their village. And how, as he let her win the running contest she had proudly defied him in, her sister saw what she shouldn't have seen.

There was two men inside their house, talking with a low voice to their terrified parents. Two men with weapons and a dangerous light dancing deep into their eyes. Shinki had heard Sayuri's laughter stop when she stood in the doorway leading inside, as he was still walking calmly in the street. He had seen her looking briefly in his direction, eyes full of fears, before two shuriken cut neatly into her eyes, in two straight lines from her eyebrows to her upper cheeks. It is right at this moment that Shinki felt the storm raging inside of him, as he sped forward to pull her sister out of the doorway, in the security of his arms. Then, he saw the men, heard his parents and Sayuri's scream of terror, and his jutsu just released.

He told about the burning rage, the unstoppable fire that needed to unleash, quick and deadly, no matter how hard he had tried to stop it. He felt the storm growing bigger and bigger, until it was too big to gain back control over it. It is when he realized the storm had destroyed and crushed everything inside of both his house and the one of his neighbours that he had understood he had to run, far from the village, far from any habited place. That's how he ended up in the desert, with his bleeding sister on his back, walking in what seemed like an eternity of wind and black sand.

Shinki never knew he had such power. Until then, he had only used the iron sand to play and sculpt small things, or to help cutting wood for his father. Small things, of everyday life. How could he have known the damages he would cause ?

Kankurou closed the door, listening intently, before he pulled the child in a tight embrace. The destruction, the fear for your sibling, a huge mess of sand and anger destroying everything that mattered to him. NAd not being able to do something about it. This was all too familiar to him. Way too familiar. He waited until he was sure the kid had emptied all he needed to let out before he let him go, putting his big wide hands on the small shoulders: “It’s late kiddo. Go to sleep. We’ll talk with Gaara tomorrow, okay? Everything will be fine. I promise you it will be okay. It was not your fault.”

Shinki sniffed loudly several time taking back control over himself, ashamed and exhausted from his crying. He nodded by automatism, and Kankurou pushed him gently toward the stairs. He watched him climbing up them, and waited for the click of the bedroom door closing to let out a deep sigh and a frustrated noise.

He then cursed as he realised his peaceful little comeback home had just been ruined.

“What a way to be back, damn…”

*

Early the next morning, Kankurou got up from his bed to go have breakfast before he had to report his mission to the Council. At the breakfast table was already sitting Gaara, staring at the void as he was spacing off, like he tended to do when he wasn’t working nor involved in any communication effort. His hair were sticking out everywhere, even messier than they were back in his teenage years, as if protesting against their owner for keeping them straight, down and controlled for so long. Though Kankurou understood where Gaara’s compulsive need of order and control came from, he couldn’t help but smile at the familiar sight of the unruly hair. He kind of missed seeing their wild nature.

The other didn’t acknowledge his presence, but used to his brother’s antics, Kankurou simply helped himself with his own breakfast and took a seat before he started to talk, perfectly aware that even if Gaara’s attention was still focused upon the void, the other would listen as soon as he’d begin. Being a ninja of the sensor type, there was always a part of the younger sharply connected to his own existence and the world all around. It had been very annoying to him when he was child, trying desperately to escape from this world, then simply erase it, but it revealed to be in fact very practical.

“You can stop the research missions about the kids’ parents.”

Kankurou observed with a little bit of scoff as his younger brother’s face progressively went from blank to a mix between confusion and hope. He was always a bit slow in the mornings.

“You mean you found them?

_No. But the boy told me, and I can assure you there is nothing to find now.”

Gaara blinked slowly, waiting for him to continue. As he explained, Gaara's face got surprised, then doubtful. Kankurou could tell he didn't like that story, for understandible reasons. But as he expected, the other didn't mention anything about what it stirred within him. Instead, he went into Kazekage mode:

"He told you that?

The doubt in his brother’s voice was almost hurtful. “Of course, duh. I’m good with kids, though I hate brats. Don’t have to sound so surprise, mister Kazekage.

_Kankurou, stop acting like a child. I’m serious.

_When aren’t you?

_Kankurou. He refused to talk the past month. He hadn’t said a word about his family, and almost talk exclusively to his sister. Why did he tell you?

_I don’t know. He was standing in the entryway when I came back yesterday night. He was waiting for you, he wanted to tell you about this and was afraid you’d kick him and his sister out. When I opened the door, he just broke crying in front of me, telling me he was monster who’d kill his sister and spilling everything. It was like he hadn’t talk in years and had to catch up on everything he missed to say.”

Gaara looked thoughtful for a moment. Kankurou finished his breakfast, and left the table concluding. "Just to say you don’t have to think about that anymore.

_Not thinking about that ? Who were those men, and what did they wanted ? Why are they even present on _my _territory ? And what about the kids?”

Kankurou stopped in his tracks. He had thought about it already, through the night. But he had wanted to avoid the subject and take some time later to talk calmly about it, when they weren’t pressed by an imminent council. Anyway, he had already ruined the morning anyway by even mentioning the kids. He was amazzed he was still surprised by his own stupidity. Being the brother of a politic was really lame at times. “What do you mean, “what about the kids”? Aren’t they staying there?

_Kankurou, just in case you haven’t noticed, there is no way either of us is destined to be a good parent. Neither of us even want to be a parent. Father wanted to be, yet just look how he was.”

The older brother came back to stand in front of his brother.

“You don’t know how good of a parent either of us could be. You’ve never ever considered it. To be honest, I thought about it a little while I was away, and seeing what I saw yesterday night only confirm my opinion on the subject. You can’t deny he’s like you. I know he makes you think about how you were, a while ago. I know it because that's all I saw when I look at him, is a younger version you. I didn’t tell him, of course. But if there is someone in Suna who can rely to what he is going through right now, it’s you. And I don't think you want to deal with a future copy of your young self, you were a complicated child.”

Kankurou lowered his tone a little, as if afraid of the reaction his next words would get. “Plus, I thought that if you actually adopted, the Council would maybe stop pressuring you into marriage…”

Gaara’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “I am NOT using those kids’ sad fate to my own profit. Surely not against some old people, no matter how powerful they think they are.”

Gaara stood up, eyes, back to normal in a fraction, his monotonous voice getting back to his Kazekage tone, such as closing the subject for good. “You said it yourself. Neither of us ever thought about kids, that’s precisely why we can’t keep them. We’re not talking about some high-tech ninja skill. Having a kid asks for attention, preparation, education, and we don’t have the time to raise one properly. We'll see what to do with them later. I’ll see you at the Council.”

Satisfied with his conclusion, Gaara dissipated in a swirl of sand, his hair uncombed as Kankurou realized they were running late. Cursing between gritted teeth, Kankurou hurried to dress properly before attending to the Council.

If there was one thing Kankurou hated, it was to be scolded like a brat by some Elder he despised.

*

Sayuri was on her own, once again.

She didn’t know why, but Shinki had been avoiding her lately. She had tried to confront him about it, but he refused to answer. She didn’t know what she did wrong. But she hated it when Shinki ignored her.

She would have asked Matsuri if Shinki was mad at her, but the young kunoichi hadn’t been watching them for a while now. When she had asked Purple-face, he simply said that her brother was busy and that she had to leave him alone. She had no idea what kept Shinki busy, but she hated it. He always told her she had to count on him, and him only. He was, with Mr. Bear, her ally in the battle against the outside world.

And now, her brother was avoiding her only to seem to grow closer to the taller man. He who was previously so adamant about not trusting strangers and beware of Purple-face because he was, she quote, “weird-looking” had now completely turned his back to her to join the ennemy. That was a low blow.

Without Shinki, she accustomed herself to feel and make a mental map of her environment. She was delighted to realise she was increasingly good at “feeling”. Not only she was now able to make a general idea of everything’s place in a near distance, she could also visualise the outline, shape and weight of the things within that distance. “Feeling” got increasingly closer to “seeing”. She bumped less and less in objects situated on her way, even those that had been placed in a different area. Last night, she even felt the vibrations from the exact place her Teddy Bear had fallen when she went to sleep. All she needed was the contact of her skin to the ground.

That’s why she decided to go away, and get out of that house they had spent over a month closed in. Since nobody decided to pay attention to her, she would pay attention to the outside. The outside made of fluffy, shifty, dry, irritating and flat sand.

It was a lot harder to _see_ on the sand. Even barefoot, the sand was unstable constantly moving beneath the sole of her feet. She had to place one of her hand on the walls of the houses to be sure she wouldn’t get lost, while she held her Teddy Bear close with the other. She passed by a few villagers who started to mutter as she came across, but she didn’t pay them any attention, and thankfully they didn’t made any move toward her. She knew from Shinki that the Kazekage’s house was close to the canyon delimitating one of Suna’s limits, and that’s where she hoped she headed. A whole world of rocks and earth, just like home was. She couldn’t wait to be there !

She laughed in relief and joy when after a long time her hand met with a wall that was much more thick, irregular, and heavy, than the walls of houses she had felt until there. She had found them ! The rocks forming the canyon. She happily adventured inside, following the lines and knots formed by the rocks over time, just as if she was reading an ancient story out of a giant book.

It was as she was getting caught in her exploration, that her feet tripped over sand and she fell on her hands and knees, letting go of her Teddy Bear. She rubbed her sore feet, before feeling around looking for her toy, only to find it tucked on a gap between two rocks.

As the oldest sinbling, Shinki always felt as obligated to provide her with some tips and advices on everyday life. Most of the time, he contented himself by repeating each and every life lesson their parents had actually provided _him_. And one of Shinki’s best learn lesson, which he repeated the most, was to always try and solve problem with logic and patience.

She pulled it, carefully and precisely, using all of her strength to free it from the rocks’ grasp, in vain. She focused on it, pressing her hands hard on the ground to feel exactly where and how the toy was kept in a tight embrace by the earth supporting her weight. She slipped her fingers in the hole, trying to losen the weakest points of pressure she found, but the toy wouldn’t budge.

Seeing that logic didn't work, Sayuri opted for the violent solution.

She hit, slammed, pulled, exhausting herself and cutting her skin to have her toy back. Mr Bear was the only one left who hadn’t abandoned her. She wouldn’t leave it here all alone ! She was not a traitor, and she would never abandon it. She promised herself she would never ever abandon anyone. Out of rage, she slammed her foot on the ground in a fit of anger, sliding it absent-mindedly. And as her hands dipped back into the crack for another try, she gasped and pulled her hand back, eyes widening as a grin spread across her face. The rocks had actually moved.

She was stronger than the canyon itself.


	5. The Leader of Suna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaara managed to find an agreement with the Council concerning the children, and Shinki seems to give him more and more importance in his life.
> 
> Or, a little reflexion about politic in the Ninja world, with a little fluff at the end ?

The council agreed on the children subject.

They had decided to let them with the Kazekage, as no structure was able to host them. They could have let them on their own, and check on them once in a while, but Shinki’s lack of control made of him a dangerous and unstable force, that couldn’t be left alone. Konoha may have managed to have the greatest ninja of all time though said ninja started as a rejected and lonely kid living alone in an apartment, but Gaara thought it would be unfair to put the kids in such a disgrace anyway, when there was so much unused space in his own house. Moreover, he was the one who found them. They were his responsability now, until they were able to take care of themselves on their own, without causing any problem to the village.

So Shinki would join the Ninja Academy of Suna, where he could at least learn the basics regarding chakra, and will have the ability to unleash the energy accumulating in him. Gaara would find some place in his agenda to help with the singularities of the child’s jutsu, from the similarities it had with his own. And if he were lucky, Shinki will vow to become a powerful ninja, and having good members in your troops is always a good thing.

As for the girl, considering her age, he still had time to see what he would do with her. He couldn’t separate the siblings anyway.

The Council had then not-so-subtly drifted on the subject of the Mizukage. After the war, Mei had considered retiring as she felt she was overpowered by the younger generation. Seeing the talent and capability of Chôjurô, as well as his cleverness in battle, she had publicly announced a few days ago she would pass her statu and position to Chôjurô in an upcoming cermony. Which led to Gaara’s own descendance he had to start thinking about. Gaara argued that Chôjurô wasn’t a relative of the former Mizukage, but as usual, the Elders didn’t heard this that way.

They had an interesting point though.

Unless Iwa, Suna couldn’t count on a younger generation to take car of it. For one, Gaara was the youngest Kazekage in history, and secondly, the mortality of the country meant that only a few privileged would live long enough to become strong and wise. Most ninja didn’t become Kazekage, and one of the cause was they wouldn’t have the time to even think about it anyway.

That was part of why Suna’s Elders were so adamant about the Kazekage having his own descendants, and preserved kekkei genkai so much. They wanted to be sure they’d have ninjas who’d have skills adapted to the harsh desert, and who’d have the strength to grow. Also, being the child of Kage enabled to start the kids’ formation sooner, and not waste any time.

Iwa didn’t need such precautions.

As a proof, Mei had said she wanted to find a nice man to marry, too, before she got too old. Gaara had no idea why she couldn’t get married and be a Mizukage, but he decided she certainly had her reasons, and was rather happy with the guy she had chosen as a replacement. Chôjurô was rational and powerful, though he had had a tendency to have a bad self-esteem. He was a bit saddened to be the only Kage left from before the War. He felt so old after everything that happened. The war had been won, but it wasn’t because of them. It stinged a little. He could understand why the others decided to quit the job, fearing they were unfitting now. But he couldn’t do that, nobody else fitted.

Even Kankurou didn’t want to take his place.

The problem is that Suna had always been a city housing young people. The living conditions were so rough, and the life of a ninja already especially hard, that most people didn’t aged past their forties or fifties. If they were lucky. The war had seen the death of many young ones, but that loss had been especially damageable to Suna. Because when the other villages had a larger scale of generation to offer to the war, the ninjas that were send from the Wind consisted of basically all of Suna’s population. And most of them were already older than Gaara. So his generation was actually the only hope for Suna to subsist, and he understood the worries of the Elder.

It was not out of selfishness he refused to marry anyone. It was quite the contrary. He didn’t want to make someone else endure his complicated personality and handle his inability to love. He didn't want them to suffer and feel as a tool for the village’s sake like his mother had been. He wouldn’t replay the family’s tragedy, he was smarter than that. All he needed was time to find a solution. He hoped the Council would be patient too.

Anyway, even if he hadn’t felt like he had played a major role in the war’s victory, he couldn’t do like his colleagues and have a peaceful retire while confidently giving the head of the warriors force to a promising youngster. He comforted himself by thinking his youth gave him time to improve and make his town a better place, with fairer laws for everyone.

But to be honest, he sometimes felt weak when he compared his achievements to his friend’s. He loved Naruto dearly, but being one of his contemporary really sucked historically-wise.

*

“I am going to a ninja school ?”

For someone so small, Shinki was a pretty reserved and stern-looking child. But he was a child nonetheless, and Gaara didn’t miss the way he straightened his posture and rised his chest, clearly already picturing himslef as a heroic warrior and gaining confidence just at the idea. Gaara must admit it was quite endearing.

“Yes. I am sorry but I am a very busy man, so is Kankurou, so going to school will give you the basics upon chakra and jutsus, which apparently your parents had never teach you about. But don’t go too fast, it doesn’t mean you have to become a ninja, nor that you will have the ability to become one. Being a ninja is a lot harder than it appears to be.”

Shinki’s brows knitted at that jab at his ego. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, trying to imitate the calm and collected posture of his mentor. “I will have the ability to become one. I know it’s not easy. I am not a baby !”

“Of course you’re not. I wouldn’t dare to say that,” accorded Gaara, despite being a bit amused.

Shinki scoffed, and asked, hanging his head low “Does it mean I won’t have anymore lesson from you then ?”

“No, not at all. I promised I will teach you everything I know, and that’s what I’ll do. It I’d just that you will have a better knowledge learning both from me and the Academy. To receive the experience of many is a lot more efficient than having it from one person only, you will see. Besides, it will be the occasion for you to meet new friends your age.”

Shinki didn’t say anything, but he wasn’t thrilled by the idea. Dealing with others wasn’t his forte, and he felt a lot better on his own than with people around. But he was happy enough to know he would still learn from the sand man, so he kept his reticence to himself.

Gaara sighed internally at the prospect of the subject he had to discuss with the boy still. It will not be a nice moment. And Kankurou left him to do this on his own, as he was locked in his workshop working on his puppets. Sayuri had been strangely secretive lately, sneaking around and whispering secrets to the Teddy Bear, smiling sweetly yet maliciously at them any time they asked her what she was doing. Apparently, she was playing in the room she shared with her brother right now. Gaara was thankful not to have her around, since he wasn’t exactly sure of the little girl’s awareness on the whole thing.

“Shinki, Kankurou told me about your parents.”

Immediately, Shinki’s posture fell back and his shoulders stiffened. He mumbled “Oh. Are you mad at me?”

Gaara was a bit confused by the question. He understood that the kid felt guilty for what had happened, and he knew he and Kankurou had had a long conversation on the subject. He fully trust his brother for this, a lot more than he trusted himself. Kankurou was a good listener, with good advices, and he had always helped him a lot coming to terms with his own conflict. He was a lot better at it than Gaara was. But what confused the young Kazekage was that the kid worried about _him_ getting mad. Why would he care about Gaara getting mad at him? Was he afraid he would disappoint? But why? They weren’t relatives.

Despite his confusion, Gaara was also pleased at the idea the kid care about what he thought of him. He answered, his voice soft and reassuring: “No, I am not mad at you. Not at all. In fact, I am the last man in this world that could possibly be angry at you for what happened.

“Really? Why?” Gaara didn’t let himself flinch and wince. He didn’t want Shinki to stop caring.

“It is complicated. Just know that what happened was not you fault. You should have been prepared about your jutsu, and if anyone is to blame, it is the men who attacked your parents. I am very sorry about what happened to you, and I will do my best to help you. But to do that, I need your cooperation. Will you help me?”

Shinki nodded eagerly.

“Thank you. I will ask you to be as precise and exhaustive as possible. First, do you know what is the name of the village you come from ?

“Yes ! We lived in Kiiromura.”

If Gaara remembered correctly, this was a tiny village, lost at the border separating the Land of the Wind from the Land of Stones. ‘_It is not far from Ishigakure… It might be a coincidence, but it would not be the first time the Wind has trouble from there. I should ask the Daimyou to send a team to repair the damages done, and send some ninja to get informations on what exactly is going on there.”_

“Do you know who those men were? Did they have a symbol painted on their face, like you do?" he hoped so. It would help to identify them.

“I don’t remember. I didn’t even really saw them. Maybe Sayuri did but… I’m not sure…” babbled Shinki, embarrassed he couldn’t develop any further. Everything happened so quickly, it all felt blurry, and surely Sayuri’s memory of the event wasn’t any better.

Gaara sighed, unhappy. “If you remember anything, tell me, okay ? Those men might be part of a group. I know bandits are taking advantage of the distance between Suna and the confines of the Land of the Wind to attack and loot the weakest villages… Informations would be very precious to find a way to dismantle them. They’re probably behind some kind of black market, too. Were your parents selling anything, or had any secret activity?”

Shinki blinked at that and shrugged, letting a confused “Uh…”. Gaara concluded he had went too deep in his Kazekage persona again. He couldn’t expect a child to understand or have some knowledge about this, not if he asked that way anyway. He needed to have a serious conversation with the Daimyou. Unhappily, off Suna his power was limited to military subjects. He needed the Daimyou to have the structures rebuild and make sure the people were taken care of after the incident. He also needed the Council’s support to lead a deeper inquiry with Ishigakure, and inform the Daimyou about this project as well, moreover since the Leader’s residence wasn’t far away from the Land of Stones… Until now, Ishigakure only ever threatened Suna and him personally, but one was never too careful.

Which meant he would have to dig up the subject of his disaster of an almost marriage. To both the Council and the Daimyou. How great.

Right at this moment, a fit of laughter interrupted them as Kankurou let out a comical roar. Both Shinki and Gaara looked to the living room entrance, where Kankurou appeared carrying a laughing Sayuri over his shoulders.

“Look, I found this little monster trying to spy on me in the hallway!”

The little girl’s giggle only doubled when the tall man pretended to eat her before putting her on her feet and letting her go. She hid behind her brother and stuck her tongue out at him, and Kankurou being the big child he was returned the gesture. As he was supposed to go back to his workshop, Gaara decided to make a comment. “I thought you hated kids."

“I do. I just wanted to get rid of her.” And he left, trying to look stoic and dignified, which looked more like he was actually pouting.

Gaara shook his head, a rare smile gracing the corner of his lips at his brother’s denial. Then he felt something wrapping around his legs. He looked down to find Sayuri sweetly smiling at him while hugging his knees, before she stormed out of the room with this mysterious and malicious expression he was now used to see on her face.

Right in front of him, Shinki looked confused and hesitant, as if he wanted to do something, but didn’t know how to. “You can go now, if you want. You really helped me and I don’t have any more question” he said, thinking Shinki was hesitant because he wanted to play and was staying only to be polite to him. But contrary to what he thought, Shinki’s hesitance only seemed to grow. He took a step closer, before retreating and pulling a closed off expression. “Thanks, Kazekage-sama” he muttered before leaving the room.

For whatever reason, Gaara didn’t’ like it when Shinki called him that way.


	6. Metal and Sand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is almost the end.
> 
> I know I'm taking a lot of time, but I guess I'm just slow. It's kind of too bad, but that way I hope I make less mistakes than if I pushed myself to update fast... Don't be afraid to correct me, on the contrary, I'd like to learn from my mistakes since I'm not a native english speaker.
> 
> Have a nice read !

Shinki was terrified.

He didn’t let it show, obviously, but still he was. Shinki had never really been a people person, so the idea of spending a _whole _day packed with a bunch of kids his age while he _still_ had no control over his jutsu was really terrifying. There was so much he needed to do to repair what he had done to his village and family, he didn't want to add any more value to hsi debt. He wanted his dead parents to forgive him and be proud of him. He didn’t want to disappoint the man that rescued him, too.

Moreover, the lack of the iron sand surrounding him really bothered him.

Since he was born, the metal his father was using at the forge had always reacted to him. Or, more exactly, the metallic remains and leftovers would pool around his feet as soon as he was conscious, following him around as a second shadow.

When he was four, his father tried to teach him some basics to use his skills and help him forging weapons and tools for the workers extracting materials down the mines. His father kept repeating him the Land of the Wind was one of the country who had the most gold on their territory, and if it weren’t for the dryness and harsh living conditions, it would be the most powerful country. They had experienced different types of metals on his abilities, such as gold, to see if it could have been of any use in the mines, but unhappily, only iron seemed to react to his chakra. The advantage was that the iron sand was lighter than if he had pieces of metal following him around, and easier to control. But it was also a lot more volatile, swift, and uncontrollable. And the more his father forged, the more leftovers there were, and the pool at Shinki’s feet kept growing since he didn’t know how to get rid of the unnecessary weight.

He lost some of it during his storm, but he didn’t want to explode and blow off a village each time he felt like there was too much of it. Besides, it seemed it only were a temporary solution, as Shinki noticed some patches of iron sand often came out of nowhere to pool around his feet, attracted to him like a giant magnet.

So to be sure he wouldn’t end up hurting anyone, he had decided to lock his iron sand in a box he painted with a red “E” shape, similar to the one painted on the Kazekage’s gourd. He had the idea when he noticed the Kazekage’s gourd; keeping the sand out of the way, yet always within reach, in case he needed it. He didn’t know if the “E” meant anything, but Shinki felt safer when he saw it on the lid of the box locking his jutsu away. And since Shinki didn’t trust his ability to control the iron sand, nor his sand’s reliability, he simply hid it under his bed. He went as far as asking the Kazekage to have a room for himself, saying he wanted to have his own space and not sharing it with everyone. Luckily, the Kazekage had just seemed surprise anyone would need his authorization on something so trivial, and merely nodded without looking further into it. Shinki was glad; he didn’t want this man to know how lame he really was.

So Shinki was now walking around without any iron sand licking up his ankles. It made him feel kind of vulnerable. Kankurou had raised an eyebrow when he saw that, but he soon focused on the new mission the Kazekage had given him. He had been kind enough to show him the way to the Ninja Academy of Suna, before he left Suna with his team, leaving Shinki _alone_ in a perimeter surrounded with an army of children.

He very logically decided he’d go in the classroom early. That way, he wouldn’t have to present himself to everyone, since he would already be there and the sensei probably won’t see him, and he’d avoid most of his classmates. Even better, it’d give time to practice and execute his poker face, which he took model on the Kazekage’s. He sneaked inside the heavy building, instantly feeling relief of the unbearable heat within the walls’ shadows. He tried to guess which door lead to his classroom by looking at the different timetable pined up on the doors, but he couldn’t read yet so it didn’t help him much.

He was about to give up and simply wait in the hallway, adopting a cool and aloof attitude while doing so, when he saw a silhouette by one of the doors, shaking. The figure was wearing a mask. _What kind of weirdo is that ? _Thought Shinki, unused yet to the ninja’s antics. But he noticed the mask harbored purple marks, very similar to Purple Face’s. It comforted him, in a strange kind of way, and he thought that maybe, if he had to survive within an army of ninja, having an ally wouldn’t be too bad.

He approached the figure, noticing he had a hand on the handle of the door, as if he hesitated to come in. The other was slightly taller than him, but it was too late for Shinki to go back now. He stopped right beside the brown-haired kid : “What are you doing ?” he asked, tone harsher than intended because of the anxiety he was trying to hide.

The kid jumped back, startled, and brought his hands to his chest as if Shinki had just stroked him there, even though he hadn’t even touched him. Shinki felt the urge to roll his eyes, but held back, remembering his mother always told him it used to piss off a lot the people he did that to. Instead he tried to adopt a more mature, in control, tone : “I am looking for the first year’s class.”

The other kid pointed at the door they were in front of. Shinki mumbled a “thanks” and entered the classroom, feeling the other close behind him. He ignored him and choose a neutral sit toward the middle of a class he assumed to be theory, according to what the sensei had told him when he was announced to join the academy. The other kid sat next to him and Shinki glanced in his direction. Slumped postured, head hung low, _that kid isn’t a charismatic one, for sure… Maybe it’s not a good idea to befriend him, after all. He’s probably the type everyone is picking on._

“M-My name is Araya. Yours ?”

Shinki blinked. _Oh well…_ he thought. To be honest, he knew he wasn't a friendly kid at all. if this one was ready to be by his side, it would be a good thing, no matter how low on the class's social ladder he was. Turning slightly on his sit to face the other, Shinki straightened up and extended his hand in what he hoped to be "an adult manner": “Shinki.”

*

The Daimyou had been quick to answer him, and give him informations about the little village near the frontier of the Land of Stones. Unfortunately the news weren’t good. And that was really not what he needed right now.

The next Kage summit was supposed to occur in Suna in a month, and he hadn’t expected the whole incident with the kids to have such proportions. Gaara gritted his teeth as he was trying to visualize a way to resolve everything _before_ the Kages arrival. He couldn’t threaten, nor be careless about, the safety of the five most important persona of the Ninja world on his territory.

The informations he just received felt a bit too familiar. The Daimyou told him of suspicious activities at the frontier. Though Kiiromura was in bad shape, the workers sent to help housing the survivors and to rebuild the village had noticed strange looking persons wandering around it. Gaara had the feeling that the fact Kiiromura had been targeted was no coincidence.

He was a bit worried to send someone that was so close to him ahead of an opponent that was probably trying to get at him, but at the same time, he knew Kankurou was perfectly able to handle himself. He had trained the new recruits just fine, and the four of them were prepared for the investigation. Kankurou was good on those type of missions, used to hide in shadows and get what he wanted unnoticed. He didn’t need to worry.

All he had to concentrate on was the kids.

Sayuri’s medical state had seriously improved lately. She walked around fairly well and claimed she had gained her sight back. Gaara had no idea how this happened, but he had no reason to doubt her as she moved around fluidly and attentive, as if she was hyper-aware of everything. She still had a lot of bruises and bumps though. She apparently found fun in every tiny bit of dangerous activity she could find, which was scary. Gaara was really worried she would overestimate hee abilities and seriously hurt herself, if not worse. It had gotten worse after Shinki entered Ninja School, and spent even less time with her.

Shinki, on the other end, hadn’t seemed to get better at all. If his sister had found some kind of familiarity in her new environment, Shinki kept shutting himself. It was hard to communicate with him. On his sleepless night, Gaara often heard him sniffing. The hurt and despair he had been a witness of had really diturbed him, the night he decided to use his sand-eye to check that he was alright. He didn’t tell anyone what he saw. As a grown-up, he still didn’t know how to deal with it.

Neither he nor his siblings were good at communication, but through the years they had formed their own kind of language. Kankurou and Temari disguised their care for each other with obnoxious and ridiculous fights that none of them took seriously. Kankurou and him found a place that felt private, avoiding the other’s stare, and listened solemnly to each other when what they felt was, after some time, too much even for them to keep it bottle-up. They would listen intently, remain quiet as the other let a slip of himself out in the open, never judging, not always able to give an answer, but always _there_. Even Temari had found a way to reach out to him, letting him know what she wanted to express through small contacts. She would run her hand through his hair when she felt proud, pinch his arm when she was teasing, and grip his hand when she was scared. It was simple. It was understandable. It felt right.

But Gaara hadn’t found a language to share with Shinki yet.

*

Sayuri was sitting on a rock, resting her chin on her elbows, pouting slightly as she played out of boredom with a small rock with the tip of her toe. She let out an obnoxious sigh, trying to get attention from her brother, who was sparring with his new friend. As she didn’t’ get the attention she expected, she decided to be more explicit.

“Shinkiii… she whined.

“No, Sayu. I won’t play with you. I have to train, I’m a ninja now.”

“But I’m bored !”

She could almost picture Shinki turning his head away from her, not caring at all about what she might say. She let out another loud sigh as she laid back on the rock, her feet still touching the ground to feel what her brother and his friend were doing. Moreover since said friend absolutely didn’t talk. She could only rely on her feet to take a watch at the new kid.

“Let me spar with you then.”

Shinki grunted in annoyance. “Absolutely not. You’re not a ninja.”

“Then I’ll become one !”

“No way.”

Sayuri shot up in a scowl. “I will !” Shinki shot her a disdaining glare she couldn’t catch, though she felt all of his pent-up impatience in the turning of his heels. “No way. There is no _blind_ ninja.”

With that Sayuri felt a pang at her heart. “I am not blind. I can almost see just as well as you do !” It wasn’t exactly a lie. She could _feel_ after all.

Shinki just shrugged, and went back to sparring.

Sayuri pushed her hair away from her face with an annoyed glared. She hated how distant Shinki had grown. She hated that he didn’t care. She missed their complicity. Back when they were home, Mom would often insist that they played together. A strange wave of sadness washed over her. She had few episodes where, seemingly out of reasons, she felt overly sad while thinking about her family. She didn’t understand how they transferred from their little village and family to the big city and the two men. She missed something, and that something left a gaping hole on her stomach, that her brother refused to fill.

A spiteful grin bloomed on her face. She knew how to annoy her big brother.

She slid her right foot on the floor, putting all of her focus and energy in the action, trying to apply enough force to reverberate the gesture through the ground. She felt the waves of her action coursing through the earth to where her brother was standing, displacing him of a few feet. He yelped as she felt his balance shifting unexpectedly.

“How ?” she heard him wonder out loud.

She felt a bitter grin breaching her face, as she left the scenery, despite her little revenge. She fought back the strange sadness that had invided her all the way home.

She didn’t expect anyone to be there, but she could decipher the silhouette sitting in the corner without any mistake. The straight posture of the back, he long column of the neck, and the leg crossed elegantly over the other, even if she hadn’t been able to see this man better than anyone else, she could have guessed who it was based on those little hints.

Craving for some kind of affection, she tugged at the man’s trousers, and crawled onto his laps. She didn’t know what it was about him that made her feel so safe. Maybe it was the earth covering every inch of his skin, and that made him so easy to read. The beat of his heart, the way blood pulsated through his veins, how his lungs expended and released at every breath, even the way his organs and muscles were moving underneath his skin. She could feel it almost as clearly as she could feel her own. It made him a lot more vulnerable, and a lot more real, than anyone to her, whom she could only see where they stood and how they moved on the ground. He was entirely exposed to her senses and that alone created a proximity between them that he probably was unaware of. She was grateful that a sandman had been the one that welcomed them.

Gaara felt himself froze when the little girl climbed onto his lap. He put aside the book he was reading, but he was at a loss to what to do. She didn’t seem to care. She was clinging to him, curled into a ball on his lap, and all he could do was stare at her and not move.

He didn’t know why she was so affectionate with him. It had started when she had hugged his knees, a few weeks ago. Then she had started hugging them every time he came home. Then hugging and kissing them. It only ever lasted a few seconds, but it was always quite shocking. And Kankurou was pouting at him at such a display of affection.

That was probably why he was so eager to help the little girl when she was in one of her mischievous mood. He was probably taking revenge, like the inner child he was.

Only this time, it wasn’t a matter of a few seconds. She didn’t look like she was going to go any time soon. He let her do, waiting patiently until a small voice, muffled by his shirt she was holding onto, asked sadly “Mommy and Daddy, they’re not coming for us, right ?”

_Here we go…_ He took a deep breath and instinctively his eyes drifted toward the portrait of their father, still hanging above the doorframe leading to the entryway, along with a picture of each of his siblings, and his mother. Everything had stayed the way it was when they were children. Kankurou and Temari had insisted on hanging some pictures of him, too, after their father passed away and they started to reconciliate. He only agreed on having some in his office, and the little room used as a greenery where he raised his cacti. Even after all those years, the house didn’t feel like his yet. He stayed here because Kankurou allowed him to, and he had nowhere else really to go. He spent a lot of time at his office anyway, but there were times like now where suddenly, the memory of his father arose to him, qnd where he would go back to be a little, so little, boy unwelcomed into this big, big house.

Instinctively, his arms wrapped around the little girl. He didn’t even realise it. He just remembered the feeling of being alone, and the child he once was seeked comfort into the one that so gratefully hold onto him. Midway between his grown and little self, he murmured into her black locks : “No, they aren’t.”

The little fist clenched even harder, face hidden further on his chest, as her breath shortened. Gaara took his eyes away from the picture of his own father, before closing them. This was different. Shinki and Sayuri’s case was different.

“It’s not that they don’t want to, though. They wish they could come for you and your brother. But they can’t.

_Why ?” she said, pulling her head back but keeping her hands flat on his chest.

That was the hard part. He didn’t know what he should do. Should he lull the truth or explain to her the concept of death ? He was so young when Yashamaru explained to him, he couldn’t remember… It was not until later he fully understand death meant the eternal lack of someone. He was much older than the girl when he did. Probably around Shinki’s age.

“It is complicated. There was an accident and now they are trapped somewhere they can’t escape.

"Can’t we go and get them ?”

He shook his head as a”no” but didn’t go any further. He just couldn’t respond. There it was, his lack of communication skill. He let his arms fall back to his sides, still as a rock as the girl waited patiently for him to explain. He didn’t. He noticed her green eyes weren’t looking at anything in particular, always staring blankly ahead. He wondered how good she could actually see. It was highly unlikely she had gotten all of her sight back. He promised himself he’d take her to a doctor when everything will be over.

As she understood she wouldn’t have anymore answer, she felt strangely hollow. Unconsciously, she had accepted the fact that things would never be what they were before. The empty space that existed between her world in colors and her world in pitch black left a painful feeling in her gut. She put her hands there and cuddled a bit more against the sand statue. She noticed his heart race had increased in speed, but she didn't know what inner turmoil agitated him.

“I feel empty there,” she told, “no matter what I eat.”

She didn’t expect him to answer. She didn’t think anyone could. She just wanted comfort. She momentarily climbed off of him to go take her Teddy bear in her bedroom, but the sandman had move to the greenery when she came back. She didn’t like the greenery. It was full of spiky cacti. And the place hold a secrecy she didn’t feel like she was allowed to break. She just stood in the doorframe, feeling how the sandman tend to each of the harmful plants, carefully, almost tenderly. He didn’t turn to her as he said : “You can come in, if you want to.”

She didn’t want to, but she craved the safety he provided. She clutched her Teddy bear in her arms, and patted until she could tug at his trousers, and expectantly raise her arm for him to pick her up.

He stared at her a long moment, but he eventually did. He secured her in one arm, while he tended to his precious cacti with the other. He felt her shudder as the thorn of one of them brushed her arm, but he reassured her he wouldn’t let her get hurt. Happy at this statement, she let herself relax and leaned into the security of these sandy, lively arms. But something was still off.

The emptiness was still there.


	7. Ruins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small Kankurou-centric chapter, with a some background story. We finally get to learn more about the village Shinki and Sayuri grew up in ! And there's only two or three chapters left.

He didn’t expect it to be so hard, to see the quiet, discreet, little village of Kiiromura in such a state.

It brought back memories. The desolations, the piles of dirt and crumbs, the marks of how and where everything had been ripped off by the storm a six year old pulled off of fear. It was so familiar, so many bad memories that echoes throughout his brains in his most vulnerable places. He wouldn’t let it show, as the puppet master he was, but still… He didn’t like it one bit.

_You need to focus, Kankurou._

Kiiromura was a village of miners. Kankurou and his team of genins had been sent, officially, to, help rebuilding and securing the area. Though a small village, and rather unimportant, it was situated at a frontier, so vulnerable because far away from Suna, and its main resource was gold mines, a still valuable mineral in the entire Ninja World. It was likely to be targeted, and having extra help there for the time being seemed logical.

But what Kankurou and his team was really there for, was to gather informations. The activities around the Land of Stones were really abnormal. Ordinarily, this Land was one that very few talked about. It was a country of miners, that didn’t have any military force. It was therefore considered a neutral territory, and it usually didn’t cause any trouble. So why, on such short notice, was it involved in two complications the Land of the Wind had ?

So far, Kankurou hadn’t found anything. The villagers here were wary of them, feeling especially close to their neighbors of the Stones because of their similar conditions of living. They didn’t seem very cooperative.

“Why are you even here ? We’re perfectly fine on our own. All you ninja ever do is causing troubles.”

Kankurou turned to one of the villagers. They were currently working on fixing the structures avoiding the mines to crumble. The storm had severely harmed the safety of the mines, and rehabilitating them required knowledge in the area and precision. Kankurou had decided to help there, because as a puppeteer, his skills could be helpful. If only the others weren’t so keen on keeping him away. He started to feel like the plague, and it made him a little angry.

At least, he had more self-control than Kurobi, one of his genin : “How dare you say that ?! Our mission is to protect, keep everyone safe. We have to keep people like _you_ out of troubles !” Kankurou mentally face palmed. That wasn’t a good way to gain their trust and have some information.

“You didn’t seem to care much about our safety, when all of this happened ! There was no one to help just after the storm. You only come here now to save appearances, and play the role of heroes. As if ! You ninjas are just selfish assholes, in greed of fame and power ! You don’t care about lads like us !”

As more people joined in the argument, only making it worse, Kankurou stepped between the two men, putting a hand one of their shoulders. He shot a severe glare at Kurobi. _I didn’t handled this one right_. He knew Kurobi was a sensitive genin, coupled with a strong sense of justice. Despite preparing them to a harsh welcoming, and having specifically told not to be provocative, he should have known it would be hard for the youngest of the team. But Kurobi was too angry to care about the shot his superior’s eyes fired at him in warning.

“I think,” started Kankurou, that we should all cool down a little bit. Look,” he said, addressing the villager “Forgive my teammate, here. He is young, and he didn’t want to trigger you by any way. We are here to help you out with the damages, geez. No need to go all angry about it.”

Kurobi snatched Kankurou’s hand away and resumed working. The other man just stared coldly before he let out a sigh and add.

“All I say is, it was peaceful here, before some ninjas came and brought discord with them.”

This arose Kankurou’s curiosity. “What do you mean by that ?”

The other shrugged, before he spat “If you hadn’t put your nose where it isn’t meant to be in the first place, none of this would have happened. You think I didn’t recognize you ? I thought the Kazekage was a wise person. But when he decided, out of pride, to eliminate a runaway-nin crossing the country without doing anything to stop the other members of the organization, is just plainly irresponsible. Of course payback was to occur.”

Kankurou frowned, but he couldn’t really say anything. No matter how much they progress, Suna was still one the weakest out of the Five Great Nations. It wasn’t that Gaara had neglected the terrorists, it was just that they were misinformed about them, and in the list of Suna’s prirorities, very low. How could it be otherwise when there was a Land to take care of, and a Daimyou who only cared about making money when he should find solutions to help the people starving outside ? All the Kages had to go further than their military function, but Gaara had to make his hands dirtier than anyone else. He couldn’t explain all of that to the man facing him, though, so he decided to privilege information.

“What kind of payback are we talking about.”

The minor had a humorless laugh, and mischief was glistening in his eyes. “It’s a small village here, mister. We know everyone’s stories and we agree on not sharing them to the outsiders. But hey, if you could pay a drink to all of my guys here, and kick the assholes’ as for us, who knows ? Maybe our tongue might have something to remember.”

Kankurou groaned, but nodded in agreement. The villagers here were easy to corrupt. He’ll have to remember it in the future. For now, he would take some money from Kurobi to pay with him. After all, if he hadn’t put the other in a bad mood, maybe they could have gained their trust without spending any money.

“It’ll teach the brat to control his anger,” he muttered bellow his breath, before going back to work.

As expected, every single worker came to take advantage of free drink. The bar hadn’t been restored yet, though it was the only public place the village had, but the barman was still standing at his counter, as if the four walls that were supposed to be holding a roof over their head hadn’t fallen apart.

The man, who apparently had some position of leader, sat at a counter, Kankurou beside him. Kankurou would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy a drink here and there, but the casualness hidden behind all of those men attitude let slip the hint of a ritual. Just enough for Kankurou to know this had a connotation he was unfamiliar with.

But the work finally done, the men were a lot less stressed. Some others, including women and children, came too, and Kankurou pulled out his purse under the cocky eye of the seemingly leader. Soon, everyone started to enjoy their time and mind their own business. At least, they pretended to do so, as Kankurou caught some side-eyed glances in their direction.

The leader took a sip of his drink, and clearly waited for Kankurou to talk, enjoying the little power he had over him by knowing something he didn’t. Kankurou easily gave in, as he didn’t really care what the other’s smirk could signify for his dignity. It was annoying, but he could deal with cockiness. That man could never be worse than Temari.

“What can you tell me about those men.”

“Hey, slow down there, buddy.” Kankurou’s eye twitched. He was no one’s _buddy_. “Tell me about the kids first. Are they alright ?”

Kankurou shrugged, then added. “Well, we didn’t see anyone _craving_ to have news from them, nor really caring about them in general before. I guess they’re alright.”

The man shrugged in return, mimicking him, before he added. “You probably knocked at the wrong door.

“We’ve send notices about them everywhere in the Land of the Wind. No responses. No one gave any sign of life. That’s partly why we took so long to come and help you. We didn’t even know where they were from.”

“They weren’t really from here therefore we didn’t really care. We tolerated the family, is all.”

“Then where did they come from ?”

The man vaguely gestured his head toward the frontier.

“The mother was from the other side. The man, no one knows, maybe the Land of Earth, but he didn’t really had a strong personality. The quiet type. It’d made a fuss when he decided to marry that girl from the black market community. You know, the one you’re father was so keen on closing his eyes upon.” Kankurou vaguely saw. Rasa used to let them do whatever they wanted on their territory, because they furnished good things at a look price, and Suna was broke at that time. Didn’t have resources to fight little outlaws. Kankurou didn’t know they were still active though. They had been pretty quiet, except for some runaway ninjas, always too obnoxious about their power to go unnoticed. The man just kept on rambling, as Kankurou didn’t seem willing to talk.

“They were kind of assholes, but at least their booze and food were good. Though they cheated on the price, sometimes. But their ambition kinda grew and soon they wanted to rivalize with ninjas. It’s a secondary Land thing. I understand why they want to make you pay, as you basically live while taking advantage of their knowledge and completely ignore them the rest of the time. Anyway. The community didn’t rally want the girl to leave, so they let her go at the condition she left a tribute to the community. They wanted a strong, powerful ninja, powerful enough to change the face of the Ninja World, and give them credit to it. Reaaly, I don’t see why they would do that. I mean, yeah, you’re pty strongs, but reaqly, you’re starting to be old. Sooner or later, you will be replaced by other ideals, and no one will need your kind anymore.”

“Stick to the man and woman’s story, jeez.”

“No need to be rude. Well, she promised and happily, Shinki inherited her kekkei genkai, manipulating metals. She couldn’t do a lot, though, as she could only had some impact on cheap metals and stuff. The kid couldn’t really do much more, but he already was swifter than her in the metal bending area. And he always had that cloak of iron dust pooling at his feet. You could hear him coming from a mile away.”

“But what happened ? Who were the men who came to the family that day ? They wanted him ?”

The man’s eyes casted down, shameful. “Yeah, they did. Didn’t really care about the girl though. She didn’t show any kind of skill, so she didn’t really matter. I guess she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe they could’ve used her to comply her mother to oblige. Because she didn’t want her son to go live the life she had lived. She thought they could hide, here, hidden in such a tiny and insignificant village, without having to go too far. Obviously, they failed.”

The man commanded another drink, Kankurou went to pay, but the huge hands of the miner stopped him right away. “All I know, now, is that though they didn’t reply to your notices concerning the kids, they definitely saw it, and are willing to have them back. If you do care about them, as after all you came all the way down here and almost ruined yourself to have informations, you should be careful of the place you decided to keep them. ‘Cause the community of Ishigakure is coming for them.”

Kankurou couldn’t know for sure, but he felt as if those words were a hundred time heavier than they sounded. The bad omen he felt earlier was also stronger. He thanked the man and was about to go get his falcon to inform his brother the soonest possible, but once again the man interrupted him.

“But this time, ninja, if you decide to do something about those people, make sure you’ve killed them all, until the last. The assholes need to pay for what they did to my village.”

It was too brief for Kankurou to be sure, as the man quickly turned his face the other way as not to show his expression, but the vulnerability he saw for a second in the man’s eyes reminded him of Gaara’s younger self. Gaara’s eyes when despite all of his efforts, everyone in town kept pushing him away. It was so hollow, so desperate, Kankurou felt a pang at his chest just by the look of it. Out of modesty and sympathy, Kankurou didn’t ask. He simply put a hand on the man’s shoulder, before he left to alert his brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just noticed that I may give too much way to the characters emotion. I can't help it, my favorite part is describing feelings. I know they're supposed to be tough ninjas, but I just think that though they don't openly express or suggest what they feel, they are feeling all the same, as any other human being. I think it's interesting to know what everyone think or feel, I hope it doesn't shatter your opinions about the original characters.


	8. Children's play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Kage summit is in three weeks, now, and Gaara has way too much to deal with.

He had three weeks now before the Kage Summit occurred, and everything was exhausting.

He was one of the first to agree that the whole celebration thing that accompanied every summit was just a show and a useless display of picturesque traditions to put glitter on the important, but boring to most people, political encounter. But even though he _really_ thought setting up a celebration was a pointless hassle, he may have some taste for glitter on several occasions. After all, Naruto was coming; he couldn’t offer to disappoint him.

He must admit that his taste for glitter was closer to a taste for competition, though.

Still, it was an unusual but pleasant sight to have Suna so happy. It was on occasions like these he could really feel the support of each and every member of his people. Everyone laid a hand to help, in their own ways. The streets were cleaned, and everyone tried to set up some decorations in the streets. Tea shops, the specialty of the Land of the Wind culture, we’re tidy and neat, almost glistening and shimmering with the blinding light of the sun. They even set up a few paper lanterns in the streets, pinpointing them between houses and across streets, so that a part of the light and warmth of the day light remained in the unforgiving icy nights. People were laughing and talking excitedly about the upcoming event, and children were waving at him whenever he passed by them, ushering bets on the strongest of the Kages.

It may seem childish, but he did hope he appeared as the strongest among the youngsters of his citizen. Though he knew Naruto was definitely stronger than him.

Anyway, Suna had never been so beautiful, and Gaara felt a sense of pride hammering in his chest.

The most endearing though was to see how seriously Shinki took everything. Sayuri didn’t seem to pay much mind to all of the hurry occurring around her, but Shinki was making real effort to make everything perfect. He had been cleaning the house, tidying his room, and training relentlessly to be the best in the academy and do justice to his protector. It was even funny, to see his little face be all serious every time anything was a little less than perfect. Gaara had thanked him and told him to just be a child and play a thousand times, but Shinki didn’t seem to feel as if any of this was enough.

He knew Kankurou had been insisting on officially adopting them. The more he spent time with them, the more appealing it was to him. But he was still doubting himself. Being a father was something Naruto could do. But he… He was just Gaara.

He had tried, but he was still unable to give the children a proper schedule. He didn’t feel like grounding them if they ever made a mistake. He didn’t know what to do whenever they were arguing, and had no idea how he’d handle it if they ever argued with him. And Naruto had Hinata to take care of the children and raise them while he was working, and though Gaara was efficient and quick, he remained mostly absent. Gaara had to spend most of the time at his office, while the kids were home alone. Kankurou was sometimes there too, but he was an important jônin, above all. Same for Matsuri, who was a kunoichi before being a baby-sitter. And taking care of the children while he worked was something a wife or a husband would do, right ? Not a brother. And what if they didn’t chose to be ninjas ? How would he handle that, knowing that being the children of the Kazekage but them in the aim of several angry and powerful opponents.

Could he give a proper education in those condition ?

A knock at his office door interrupted his thoughts. “Come in,” he said, focusing on the secretary who entered.

“Lord Kazekage, there is a letter from Kankurou,” he informed, giving the letter after he’d been invited to do so.

Gaara read its content quickly, his eyes widening as he stared at the secretary, standing still in front of his office, incredulous. He then wrote an order on a blank page and gave it to the secretary, informing him shortly : “I want you to give this to one, preferably two, available Anbu. My house and the children living in there had to be surveyed at every moment while I’m not there. Put guards at every entry of Suna, and make sure everyone is controlled before entering. I know,” he said when he saw the other was about to object, “that a lot of foreign ninjas are attending the Kage Summit, but this is needed for everyone’s safety. If anyone complain, send them to me.”

The secretary nodded, and it was only after he left that Gaara let out an annoyed groaned. Everything was so good until now… He hated that he had to ruin the happy mood that had been hanging in the air of Suna lately. Why did it have to always be so complicated ?

* * *

“Shinki ! Let’s play together !”

Said boy didn’t even bother to sigh, too concentrated on keeping control of the big amount of iron sand he managed to wrap around his arms. It required a lot of focus : he could feel it moving along his skin, as if it was breathing, expanding and contracting regularly. If he lost his focus, the sand would either drop to the floor or crush his arms, maybe even break the bone.

But, really, has anyone managed to focus when there was an annoying little being glued to your shadow at every possible second ?

Frustrated, he felt the sand drop to the ground, pooling to his feet once more. He turned around and snapped at his little sister. “Go away already ! I’m fed up with you ! I don’t have time to play with you, I don’t want to, I hate playing your stupid games ! So get out and leave me alone !”

The moment he saw the hurt on his sister’s eyes, he regretted.

He knew he hadn’t been there a lot for her, lately. He knew she was still a baby, and wanted his attention at all times. But Shinki wasn’t in the mood to give it to her. He simply couldn’t. He was dangerous. He was a failure. He had to become better. He shouldn’t even need to deal with this to begin with !

“If you don’t stop being mean to me, I will fight you !”

… But then, his anger was fueled again.

“Oh, please ! I don’t have time for your stupidity anyway.”

“I’ll beat you !”

“No way, I’m a ninja now.”

Then, she said that terrible sentence, arms crossed over her chest, and pride in her voice. “I may not be a ninja yet, but… I bet I can fight way better than you do.”

Immediately, Shinki’s interest in competition and games awoke. He pretended he didn’t care nor needed to prove himself, but the excitement behind his words was heard all the same by the blind little girl:

“I won’t even need my iron sand to defeat you,” he said cockily. In all truth, he didn’t feel ready to use it, especially not on his sister. Sure, she was an annoying little brat, but because of everything he had done to her… He couldn’t hold it against her. The scars on her eyelids would forever raise guilt in the pit of his gut. Why couldn’t she understand that all he was trying to do was to protect her ?

She let out a frustrated groan, furious to be so belittled by her brother. Being the oldest didn’t give him right to treat her like that !

“At the Grand Canyon. I dare you to fight me at the Grand Canyon, the one at the South of Suna.” Her tone was cold and authoritarian. She didn’t give him a choice.

He hesitated, at the idea of going outside. They couldn’t fight inside of the house, for obvious reasons, but he didn’t like to leave the home without telling anyone. Old big brother reflex. He measured the pros and cons, and finally decided :

“Fine, he said, but don’t come crying to me after. I warned you.”

“Fine !” she yelled, clearly annoyed. Then she stomped out of the room, turning on her heels as she reached the door. “You’re coming or what ?”

Shinki, let out a grunt, and hesitated. Should he keep his iron sand ? He wasn’t so sure. What if he ended up hurting her ? He bent to but the sand back to his little box. He didn’t really needed it, right ? It was just his sister. He doubted she could do him any harm.

He knew she will end up crying, frustrated that she lost.

* * *

There was no one in sight, in what his sister called the Grand Canyon. The natural defense of Sunagakure, that could easily compete with Konohagakure’s, in terms of height and protection. Personally, Shinki thought Suna’s was better. He had learned a little bit at the Academy about Konoha, and from what he interpreted, it was a bunch of privileged ninjas that put way too muck efforts over the form rather than the efficiency. Really, why put the statues of Hokage on a mountain? Where anyone could see and attack it ? Besides pretention, he didn’t understand what the point was. Suna had also statues of former Kazekages, but it was in the secrecy of the Council room. Where their wisdom could be inspirational when most needed.

He wondered how Sayuri was able to walk so freely amongst the crowd in the streets, and how she could move around so easily. Never bumping into anything nor anyone. Until then, he had guessed his sister could move effortlessly throughout the house because she got used to the emplacement of every little thing, after she had bumped so many times in every single one of them. But now, he started to wonder if, after all, her sight had really gotten better, as she had claimed to be. He was happy for her, but, why she hadn’t tell the Kazekage yet ? It was important, right ? And maybe the pink-haired nurse could come over and take care of her once more.

People faded gradually the closer they got to the Canyon. Sayuri seemed confident about where they were heading to, but…

“Yuyu,” he started, “are you sure we need to go so far ? We’d better stay close, just in case.”

“It’s just a lil’ deeper. I know where we are going.” She replied, without looking at him.

Well, technically, she couldn’t _look_ at him, but she could at least pretend.

And indeed, they stopped shortly after, in the crease that existed between two sharp edged of the walls. Shinki could tell this crease wasn’t meant to be an opening. It wasn’t deep enough to completely cross the space separating Suna from the vast desert. It looked more like a hole made by accident, as if the designer’s hand that drew the canyon had accidentally drifted while making the contour of it. There, Sayuri dramatically turned on her heels, looking at the ground toward where he was.

She was always looking at the ground, now that she could see anymore. Shinki didn’t know if it was because it was more comfortable that way, or if it was just a reflex. She adopted a fighting stance, before asking: “Are you ready ?”

“Yes,” he answered, making sure he was solid on his feet and aware of his environment. Just like he learned at the Academy.

“Then, begin !”

Immediately, Shinki grinned, and jumped forward. He ran, his and gave his sister a forceful push. Not to hurt her, just enough to make her lose her balance, and fall. But, surprisingly, he felt the ground move beneath his feet before he could reach her, and stumbled on his feet, trying to regain balance.

Just like last time, when he was training with Araya…

Incredulous, he aimed another attack, but every time he moved, it was like Sayuri knew exactly what he was about to do, and she dodged him every time. She also had a phenomenal strength, for someone her age, Shinki realized. Not enough to really hurt him, but the few time she managed to slip through his defense and lend him a quick punch, he definitely felt the sting.

After a moment, he started to only defend himself, while observing his opponent. She was growling and howling like a small animal, quick and stable on her feet. Was that really his little sister ? Where did she learn all of that ? And how did she knew what he was doing ?

It was after the earth beneath his feet shook unnaturally that he started to have doubts. He started to pay close attention to his sister’s feet, and realized that every single shake he felt were synchronized with the shifting of her bare feet on the ground.

Could it really be …?

It is only ten minutes later, when his sisters suddenly stopped while looking at the ground, dumbfounded, that he knew for sure she had, too, a jutsu of her own. She was breathing heavily, sweat dripping from her whole body, muscles tensed and trembling because of the too great effort and energy she had put in her fight. He knew these symptoms: he had the same every time he pushed his training to hard. She hadn’t any chakra left.

He stared at her, unable to believe it. Sayuri was only four, but at this point, they should have noticed if she was special too, right ? Neither he nor his parents ever noticed anything. How ? Why ? Did someone gave her a jutsu when she was in that hospital ?

“Sayuri,” he started, “why you didn’t tell me you had a jutsu ?”

“I know, right ? If only we had known she had that kind of ability, we would have been a little more careful, the last time we met.”

A small gasp escaped both their lips. Shinki looked around to find the source of the voice, but there was nobody in sight.

“They are above, on top of the canyon…” he heard Sayuri whisper.

“How many of them?” he asked, while slowly getting closer to her, ready to protect if anything were to happen. He was glad he barely fought, earlier. But he cursed under his breath at their carelessness. He knew they shouldn’t have gone so far.

“Oh, don’t worry, kiddo. Where enough for you,” said the unpleasant voice.

It was then, Shinki saw them. A bunch of men covered in a white cloth, from which only emerged the uncovered eyes. “You don’t recognize us, do you ?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have noticed already, Sayuri's ability are heavily inspired by Toph's, from Avatar The Last Airbender. Originally, I just watched this video were people were analyzing who would win in a fight opposing Gaara and Toph, and from that I thought that it would actually be pretty cool to have someone that has abilities similar to Gaara's but coming from another source of power and that could be used differently. But Toph is a really great character with a cool personnality that are really fitting her original universe, and the more I thought about this idea, the more the character changed and shifted gradually, and ended too different from Toph in my opinion. That's why I finally decided to say that Sayuri was an OC : her story is different, and her abilities are adapted to what I imagine to be the rules of the Naruto-verse. And, obviously, I don't own Naruto nor ATLA.
> 
> Also, originally I created this story to write short episodes of family fluff, but I ended being too invested in the plot, so in the end this is totally different from what I expected it to be. In one of those episodes I was planning to explain how Sayuri's abilities worked and why it was slightly different from other jutsus. Is anyone interested in having a one-shot about that ?


	9. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinki and Sayuri try to escapes the strange men, while they learn their role model isn't as nice and calm as he seems to be.

Being surrounded by a group of unknown and suspectedly dangerous ninjas was _terryfying._

“Shinki” whispered Sayuri, holding his hand for comfort, “I’m scared.”

_Me too_, was what he immediately thought. He gripped her fingers tighter. She could feel both of their heartbeat quicken, and panic was even quicker to rise in her chest. The men kept getting closer, eyes focused on Shinki only.

“It’s a shame, really. After all we did to find you… You belong to us, Shinki, and seeing that your sister has potential too, we agree to take care of her. What do you think ?”

The children didn’t answer. The grip of his sister had tightened higher on his arm, clawing. “There are more on top of the rock, behind us,” she whispered again. Shinki fought his instinct to turn around to spot them. He couldn't count on his eyes for this. No matter how Sayuri managed to see, he could rely on her only. “Yuyu, don’t listen to them, and try to spot a way out, a blind spot, anything for us to flee. Ok ?” he instructed. She nodded, breath short. She was terrified, but she tried to stay calm and aware of her surroundings.

Shinki was proud of her.

“Who are you ?” he asked, both curious and trying to distract them.

“Let’s say… A few months ago, we had a little misunderstanding at your house. You severely injured good members of our group, you know ? But your mommy wanted us to go and bring you with us, safely, in our home. That is what she wished. And as a ninja from our Land, you rightfully belong to us. Have you ever heard of ninja's honor and duty ? How does it sound to you ?”

Shinki was sceptical. He felt like the mention of their mother was a trick. The other had chose his wording carefully, never letting know if she was actually alive, or if he was repeating a wish she made long ago. He felt like they were lying. He was there, just outside, when the men had thrown their shuriken in his sister's direction. He _felt_ how he lost control of his jutsu, and he _saw_ the house falling apart crashed by the power of it. He knew who those men were now. The men who scared and injured his little sister…

“I have no reason to believe you, after what you did to her.” he said, poitning angrily at his little sister.

On his right, he felt Sayuri shifting closer to him. “Shinki, they are all around us, and getting closer.” The grip of her hand on his was almost painful.

“You should. If we wanted to harm you, we could have killed you before you even knew we were here. But your mommy is probably so worried about you. It took us a long time to find you, but when we know who the criminal who took you in is, it is not really surprising.”

“Mommy is alive ?” asked Sayuri, losing all interest in spotting their opponents.

“Yes, my little one. She’s waiting for you home. Aren’t you missing her ?” the other said, sarcastically. The other men snorted.

Instantly, Shinki felt the grip of her little fingers loosen. He tightened his grip a little and yanked her back when she made a move toward the other man, not understanding the irony.

“He’s lying, Yuyu. I saw the house. There’s no way she survived. Gaara-sama had been looking for her forever, remember ? And they didn’t find her.”

“Or maybe he hid her presence from you Shinki.” The little boy could see with how much delight the man took messing with them.

All around, he could sense how the group tightened the circle they formed around them. They were trapped. There was no issue. He felt threatened.

The man cocked his head to the side in a mocking manner. “I find you quite quick to judge us, Shinki. Do you know anything about the man that rescued you ? Have you ever heard of Gaara of the Sand Waterfall ? Do you really think he is any better than we are ?”

“Shinki, I’m scared !”

“I’ll find a solution !” he whispered harshly, feeling powerless.

But Sayuri wasn’t in the mood to wait. Without a second thought, she let go of her brother’s hand and ran in the opposite direction, straight into the giant wall of rock formed by the canyon.

“Yuyu !” he yelled, running after her.

The man held his hand in the air, signaling his mates tthe fun was over, seeing an opportunity to forcefully take the children. There wasreally no other way this was supposed to end, anyway.

What he didn’t expect thought, was for them to disappear _into_ the mountain.

Shinki only understood what went through his sister’s head when she curled in a ball deep inside one of the numerous galleries digged into the walls of the canyon. He had learned in class that Suna had several galleries to evacuate the city in case of emergency, leading to different parts of the desert. They were mostly hidden by a genjutsu, and their emplacement was known from Suna’s citizen only. Sayuri must have found some of them in one of her expeditions. The little daredevil.

“Yuyu, you’re a genius.”

“Do you think they’ll find us here ?”

“Depends. You think you can close the entrance with your earth jutsu thing ? Just in case.”

“I can try…”

She did her best, but in the end a small crack was still visible to the outside.

“It should be enough to slow them down. Hurry, we don’t know how the galleries are connected. They might find us. Through another gallery.”

“I can _see_ and find a way out. But I’m tired…”

Shinki sighed sympathetically. “I know, Yuyu. Just a little more effort. You want me to carry you ?”

"Nah.I need to feel the ground."

He let her take the lead, and pulled his small portion of iron sand out of his pocket. He wasn’t sure if it would be useful, but for once, the familiar awareness of iron was comforting rather than theatening.

They walked silently through the rock, whispering from time to time “Did you hear that ?” or “I felt something weird in this direction.” Fear and the need to be discreet stopped them from comforting chit-chat.

After what felt like an eternity of terror, an excited and hopeful whisper from his sister echoed through the gallery : “An opening !”

If it weren’t so dark, he is sure her eyes would’ve sparkled.

But they were happy too soon.

As they were about to exit the gallery, something blocked out the sunlight. Sayuri found her brother’s hand when she felt him stop a couple feet behind. “What’s up?” she asked, without understanding. She couldn’t feel anything upfront.

“They were waiting for us.”

Indeed, just before the exit, they were, sitting on floating stones, looking down on them with a smirk.

“Your jutsu is interesting, little one, but you have too many weaknesses. I’m afraid I am a better earth jutsu user than you.”

Beneath the white cloth covering his face, Shinki took a glance of the flash of a smile that froze the blood in his veins.

“Yuyu, look for another way out.”

“And what for ?” asked the man. Slowly, he climbed off his floating stone, and put his two feet on the ground. “Anywhere you go, we will find you. We can’t feel where you are, but we are a big number enough to cover all of the exits. And even if you manage to get through us, we will come back, over and over, until we have what we were promised to have. Do you want to disappoint your mother, kid ?”

“Stop talking about her, you murderer !”

The mask gasped, mock-offended. “Me, a murderer ? And what are you, exactly ?”

Shinki couldn’t control himslef. Without his will, the iron sand lashed onto the other man. Soon enough, blood covered his face. But the horrendous smile ever disappeared.

“That’s all you got ? I guess the Sand Monster didn’t want to have an opponent and didn’t bother with training you. You were more powerful, back then.”

Immediately, the rock the man had been sitting on a few minute ago went straight into Shinki’s knees, knocking him to the ground. Sayuri let out a shriek and attempted to close the gallery, but the man put his hands on the walls, stopping them from closing with this one hand only.

“You can resist, you can fight, but you’re bound to join our cause. It is called fate, you don't chose your Land, nor your family, or the group you rightfully belong to. Do you even know who is the man that wrongfully took you in ?”

Shinki, on the ground didn’t respond, but Sayuri’s frightened shake of the head didn’t go unnoticed.

“He may act like he’s all good and moral now, but we, the old ones, we haven’t forget who he used to be. He killed over thousands of people, out of pure bloodlust. His father was a bastard who neglected his people, and do you think he is any better ? Did anyone ever cared about you in your little mine town ? I don’t think so. And us, in the Land of Stones, we haven’t forgotten how cruel he had been to our village when out of rage, he let Shukaku fall upon us. So, still think we're the bad guys, huh ? In the ninja worlds, there is no bad guy. Just interest conflicts.”

Sayuri started trembling at the mention of the village destroying, as memories crawled back into her head. A storm. Walls crumbling. A sharp pain underneath her eyelids. She hadn’t lived what the man was saying, but she oh so related to it. Yes, the blurry memories of the night she lost her sight were slowly making their way through her foggy brain.

But they were the ones who caused this pain to her, right ?

“Your mother’s parents knew that pain, and joined us. Then, your mother promised us she’ll give us warriors that would be strong enough to defeat Gaara of the…”

“Gaara of the Sand Waterfall.” Finished a calm, yet angered, deep voice.

Soon enough, a huge wave of sand crushed upon the entire group. On the outside, Sayuri and Shinki could hear the sound of a battle occuring, but relief fell upon them when they saw a familiar figure standing on the exit. Sayuri was the first to run and throw herself in the man’s arms, Shinki close behind. Gaara hugged them both, wrapping all three of them in a sand bubble.

“I’m sorry I was so late. I am so, so sorry.”

On the outside, Anbus were fighting the remains of the group that hadn’t fled yet. The leader of the Sand opened his third eyes to help outside of the bubble.

But he never let them go.

They stayed tightly together, until the hot rays of sun hit their skin again as the bubble unwrapped, revealing a cleared out rocky landscape.

“It is time to go home, now,” said Gaara.

The siblings were more than happy to comply.

*

Later that night, Gaara could hear the quiet steps of the children heading to his bedroom as he was calmly sitting on his bed.

The door cracked open, and two curious faces peeked inside.

Gaara invited them in, and they both sat on the opposite end on the bed, keeping a distance. Sayuri was holding her brother’s arm. Shinki seemed rather embarrassed, but the curiosity he felt was too strong.

“Is it true, what the other man said ? Did you really killed thousand of people for no reason?”

Gaara took a breath and put his book aside.

“Yes, it is true.”

The disappointment and fear on their faces hurt more than he was willing to admit.

“Is that what you meant when you told me your sand hurt a lot of people ? And that it took you years to have control ?”

Gaara nodded. “What happened ?”chirped Sayuri.

“I was a kid who had too much power, and not enough support or control to use it safely. I let it grow until it was so strong, that I became the tool rather than the chief. And unfortunately, there is nothing I can do to pay back the countless lives I have taken.”

Silence followed his statement.

“Did they kill our parents ?” asked Sayuri. And Gaara understood that, this time, she wanted a straight answer. Not silence. Not a fog of uncertainty. A real answer.

“Yes they did.”

Shinki looked at him, surprised. For him, he was still the cause of his parents’ death.

“Then why you haven’t kill them all, if you’re so used to kill ?” Sayuri asked again. The joy of being an innocent, far away from moral, child.

But the guilt on Shinki’s face was heartbreaking.

“Because I think no one act the way they do out of pure malice. My role as a Kazekage is to protect my citizen, fight for them, and keep them safe. Not to punish. Not to kill. As soon as no one is in danger anymore, keep fighting is pure cruelty. And even though the truth they were stating was largely simplified and biased, it isn’t completely untrue either. Ninja is indeed a world of interests conflicts.”

At this, Shinki avoided the other man's stare.

Gaara let this gaze drop to his knees. “I shouldn’t tell you this, but the truth is, as soon as I saw them threatening you, my deepest desire was to kill them all until the last.” He glanced up and straight into Shinki’s eyes. “But as a human being, and your protector, I knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. I failed in keeping you both safe at all costs. Putting the blame on them would only be unfair. Everything happens for a reason, and I should have been more careful. And living in such a world doesn't mean you have to blindly obey your superiors. I guess it is more of acting in what you feel is the best for the most.”

Sayuri just shrugged in a “meh” fashion. Personnally, she thought killing and jutsus were funnier than letting the bad people go. She didn’t fully understand the concept of death, nor good or bad, for now. Gaara wasn’t sure she was aware of the fact she wouldn’t see her parents ever again.

The children drifted closer and closer to him the longer they talked. Sayuri excitedly told them how she discovered her jutsu and how she made it grew to be an extension of her own senses. Shinki was quieter, but looked calmer, though he still avoided eye contact. In the end, Gaara found himself sitting with his back to the bed’s headboard, Sayuri curled up and asleep on his right side, while Shinki was playing absent-mindedly with his left hand, worry printed on his face. Gaara closed his hand around the boy’s, and said in what he hoped sounded comforting : “Don’t take the blame for your parents’ death. They took a risk that unfortunately didn’t end well for them. But you know, mistakes happen all the time. Being a ninja is tough. We are supposed to be strong, but we are blamed when damages occurs. We are to protect people, but by doing so, we are to threaten someone else. What matters, Shinki, is that you _never_, _ever_ meant the hurtful things you did. And that you’re doing your everything to redeem yourself and be better. I bet your parents would be proud of you.”

Shinki had small smile.

“Now please, don’t carry around you guilt so much. You are so young ! You should never have had to carry a burden so heavy on your shoulders. You don’t deserve it. I’m asking you to forget, but to forgive yourself. Can you do that ?”

Shinki had a real smile this time, and looked at his in the eyes. Finally.

"For now, I'll let you grow as a ninja, and I'll teach you everything I know. But, if you ever feel like you belong to where your parents came from, I'll let you go. I don't want to tie you both to Suna. I just want all of this huge mistake to not let too big of a print on any of you."

“I don't think I'd want to go there. Everyone there must hate me. When I'll be able to repair the damages I've done, maybe? Will you give me a lesson tomorrow ?” Shinki asked.

A rare smile crept on his own lips. “Sure, if you want to.”

Shinki nodded enthusiastically and let himself drift to sleep on Gaara’s left side, hand still in his own.

Gaara made sure he didn’t disturb any of their rest.

Maybe he wasn’t so bad of a father, after all.

Right ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo we are coming to the end ! Just one epilogue and it will be done. Thank you so much to everyone who took an interest in it !


	10. A new beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Kage Council is ready to be hosted.

Gathered all together at the gates, the people of Suna were waiting excitedly, yet with discipline, for the Kages of the other nations to arrive. As usual, Sayuri struggled with staying still on the Kazekage’s side. She was biting her lip and her knee kept bouncing as she still couldn’t distinguish anything on the flat, fuzzy sand. Just beside her, Gaara was standing still as a rock, epitome of stability and security. On the other side of the Kazekage stood Shinki, who was nervously staring toward the horizon. The air felt like electricity with all the excitement radiating from everyone, and if one listened close enough, they could hear the precipitated whispers coursing throughout town. Kankurou was trying to hide his delighted grin, as he glanced toward his baby brother.

But Gaara was calm as ever, proud, and beyond happy to present his dearest friend the family standing at his side.

* * *

_Barely a day after the attack, Kankurou had finally came back, reassured to know that their enemies’ plan had been foiled. Gaara had even managed to act quietly enough to not alert the Council, and only he, his brother and the Anbus that had helped knew about the incident involving the children. He had checked on them briefly, joking around before he looked for his brother. As he found him reading in the living room, he couldn’t resist the urge to tease him a little._

_“So, are you decided to welcome them in the family yet ?” he said, big grin splitting his face in half._

_“I don’t know yet. I’m not sure,” said Gaara, not even looking up from his book. Avoiding his gaze._

_Kankurou’s smile deflated. “For real ? After all you did for them ? Are you going to still consider them strangers._

_“I do not.”_

_“So what is keeping you from adopting them ? I don’t get it. Literally, it would resolve every single problem you all have.”_

_Gaara only shrugged. “Do it, if you get along with them so much.”_

_Kankurou sighed, as he was used to do anytime he met one of Gaara’s way of thinking he didn’t understand. And god knew there were plenty._

_“Do you know there calling you “dad” when no one is listening ? Look, I really like them, but I don’t want children. I’m always on the road, progressing as a ninja and puppet master. I don’t want a wife and children, nor a home to come to and rest. All I ever wanted was to be a ninja, and I want to do it fully. I know you’re not interested in a relationship, and I understand why. But don’t deny all you ever dreamed of was a real family, whom you’d be a wanted part of.”_

_Gaara didn’t say anything for a while, before he asked. “How do you know how the call me ?”_

_“Easy. I heard them before I came into their room. They were talking pretty loudly.”_

_Gaara stayed silent, But Kankurou didn’t push further. With a knowing smile, he said “Well, I’m leaving you alone now. You can thank me later when you’ll officially be a dad._

_And, just a few days later, a new meeting with the Council happened. Kankurou will remember forever the expression on the Elders’ faces when Gaara told them he wouldn’t need a marriage to have descendants._

_What Gaara would remember forever, was the relief he felt when he announced it to the children themselves. Shinki had tried to keep his composure, but couldn’t stop himself from hugging his new father. Sayuri had jumped and run around and fell several times until she threw herself in the embrace for a few seconds before spending the adrenaline in her veins throughout the town. It was surely one of his best memories ever._

_The whole town celebrated then, singing and dancing over traditional songs Kankurou and Gaara hadn’t heard for a long time, when they were children themselves and Suna wasn’t in such a desperate state that only partying was out of questions. Thousands of lanterns were lit in the streets, even though the Council of the Five Kages hadn’t happened yet. After resisting, Gaara and Kankurou finally let themselves celebrating with the other habitants, and the children took advantage of it to stay up very late. Shinki found Araya and a young girl named Yodo in the crowd, and Sayuri met another young girl with whom she spent the evening until the festivities stopped. The air was filled with music and laughters, and more than ever, Gaara could feel the strength of the bond the citizens of Suna shared._

_He had never felt so grateful._

* * *

He felt something tug at his Kage clothes, so Gaara looked down to an expectant Sayuri. “Are they coming yet ?”

Shinki clicked his tongue and said “Yuyu. Stop bothering Father. It is not very serious.”

“You’re always serious.”

“Yuyu !” Sayuri just laughed it off, and made her way to the other side of the Kazekage to link her hand with her brother’s. Just then, Shinki said “Ah ! They’re here !”

And indeed, on the flat line of the horizon, three figures emerged. Sayuri’s bouncing doubled and Shiki rolled his eyes.

Soon, Naruto, accompanied by Lee and Temari, stood just before them. Naruto had the biggest confused grin as he looked at the two children standing right between Kankurou and his sand friend. Temari observed with a puzzled look and raised an eyebrow at Kankurou who shrugged innocently.

“Hey ! Long time no see, right Kazekage ?”

“Not so long ago,” said Gaara, amused. “Last time was at Temari’s wedding.”

Beside him, he heard Sayuri whispering not so discreetly to Shinki “What Kage is this ?”

“The Hokage.”

“Oh.”

An awkward silence settled. The all people from Suna were nervously staring at the Kages exchange, until Gaara spoke “Welcome to the sand, Hokage. You are the first. As the Kazekage, it is a pleasure for me, my people,” he gestured toward the men and women standing on both side of the main road behind him, “and my family” he gestured toward the kids, “to have you here.”

Naruto’s smile became brighter and more sincere, as Temari covered her mouth in shock. She then shot an angry glare at Kankurou, that clearly meant _How come you didn’t bother to tell me about this ?!_ Kankurou gulped audibly, but was saved by Naruto, who knelt in front of the children in this friendly way of his : “Hi ! It’s a pleasure to meet you ! So, where do you guys come from ?”

Both children looked shyly at their father, who answered, with a sense of modesty and happiness lingering in his voice “That, my dear friend, it is a secret.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the end ! A little short, but I feel like it is complete now. Thanks a lot to everyone who took the time to read this. I am beyond grateful to everyone who commented, left kudos, and enjoyed this. I hope you had a great time reading this silly little story of mine !


End file.
